Reading Cristal Potter and the Goblet of Fire
by Nichole Monroe
Summary: Book 4 of the series, girlHarry, follow Cris and the gang as they read about her fourth year. New people with them, past, present and future collide to try and change the outcome. Will they? Cris/twins, Ron/Hermione, Neville/Ginny, Draco/Luna.
1. Prologue

The next morning when they all woke up and had breakfast there was another note for them. James looked his siblings and his cousin, and shrugged his shoulders, he had no idea who wrote the note. Remus taking charge once again picked up the note and began reading it.

_Everyone,_

_I know James usually writes the notes but since he is with you I am doing it for him. My name is Dom, short for Dominque, I'm Bill's second daughter, anyway just wanted to warn you, we had all discussed this before we had sent anyone back in time so we are bringing someone else in the room. Someone you all hate, I am terribly sorry but it was only way we could think of for them to see reason, they are Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge, Uncle Percy if you could tell them what happened to Sirius that would be great seeing as they believe you. And I also know that you want us to send pictures of us so there are also there as well. Professor Dumbledore if you could take their wands as well and let Umbridge know about the no detention and the no point given or taken then that would be great as well. Sorry about the inconvenience. _

_Yours,_

_Dominque Isabelle Weasley_

Everyone stared at each other just as the bright light filled the room. Once the light faded the minister and the toad woman were standing there looking around the room in shock then in fear at seeing Sirius.

"Sirius Black!" they screamed.

"Yes, yes I am." Said both Sirius', this caused the two minister officials to look back and forth at the older and younger version in complete shock.

"What on earth is going on here?" Fudge asked. Percy stepped up to take charge just like his niece asked him too.

"Let me explain, all of us were brought here to try and change the outcome of the war. There are four from the past, Lily Evan, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, they are here to try and change the outcome of the first war. There are 26 from the present to see what happens through Cristal Potter's years through Hogwarts and 7 from the future so we can see the outcome of the war." Percy said.

"That's not possible." Umbridge said, her voice filled with malicious.

"It is possible seeing as we are sitting in the room with you." Victoire said.

"And who are you my dear?" Fudge asked taking this one step at a time.

"My name is Victoire Weasley, my parents are Bill and Fleur and my birthday is May 2, 2000. My name means Victory as I was born on the anniversary of the end of the second war." Victoire said.

"Obviously you are lying." Umbridge said with the smirk present on her face.

"Then why is it I believe her?" Fudge asked.

"You don't mean to tell me you believe her nonsense?" Umbridge asked.

"Anything is possible Dolores, but what I want to know is why is Sirius Black here when he should have been instantly arrested by Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt." Fudge asked.

"Because he is innocent, in the third book it explained how Sirius convinced Mr. and Mrs. Potter to switch secret keepers, a rouse to protect his two best friends, they switched to Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew was the one to betray the Potter's not Black." Percy said.

"But Pettigrew is dead." Fudge said with intensity.

"No, James, Sirius, Robin and Peter all became animagi in order to help Remus out during the full moon. Werewolves don't hurt animals, Pettigrew's form is a rat and he escaped in the sewers that night and I found him in our garden a few days later. I kept him as a pet and gave him to Ron, my little brother and his best friend have been sharing the same dormitory as a murderer for three years!" Percy said shouting the last part his face turning red. His family watched on in awe and pride that their brother/son was coming back to them.

"Alright, as soon as we can get out of this mess we will find Pettigrew and clear Mr. Black of all charges." Fudge said. Cheering was heard throughout the room.

"But I have another question; I still don't know the other seven people in this room." Fudge said. Keiran, Teddy, Scarlett, Lily J, James, Al and Gwen stood up since Victoire already introduced herself to the minister and the toad woman.

"My name is Keiran James Black, my parents are Sirius and Robin and my birthday is June 5, 1996." Keiran said.

"So that means your mother is pregnant with you right now." Fudge said. Robin smiled and nodded and placed a hand on her slight baby bump. "Then congratulations."

"My name is Teddy Remus Lupin, my parents are Remus and Tonks, my birthday is April 10, 1998. I'm a metamorphmagus and not a werewolf though I do have the heightened senses." Teddy said.

"Interesting, I never heard of that happening before, seems that your mother's gift counteracted the werewolf gene from you father." Fudge said. Teddy nodded and Scarlett went next.

"I'm Scarlett Iris Black, I'm Keiran's younger sister and Sirius and Robin's daughter, my birthday is December 14, 2001." Scarlett said with a smile.

"I'm Lily Jade Potter-Weasley, I'm Cris and the Weasley twins' oldest daughter, my birthday is April 15, 2002." Lily J said.

"And I'm James Sirius Potter-Weasley, I'm Lils twin brother." James said with a bow and the group chuckled a bit at his antics.

"I'm Remus Albus Potter-Weasley, I'm the second son of Cris and the Weasley twins and my birthday is March 10, 2004. You can call me Al sense there are already two Remus' here." Al said. Fudge nodded and smiled, he was glad to see that Cris found someone in the future, he remembered meeting her for the first time and felt sad for her. Umbridge on the other hand was grimacing at the thought that the Potter brat reproduced, these three obviously took after their mother and fathers.

"And you my dear," Fudge said smiling at Gwen.

"I'm Gwen Johnson, I'm one of Cris' friends from her neighborhood, and apparently I marry a wizard in the future so that's why I'm here." Gwen said.

"Ah, so you are a Muggle?" Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice.

"Yes, and I find the magical world very fascinating, but don't worry I won't say anything to anyone, who would believe me?" Gwen asked.

"That is very true, so I say we get started now, whose turn is it to read?" Fudge asked. Moony answered by grabbed the fourth book, he noticed and it was by far thicker than the last three.

"**Cristal Potter and the Goblet of Fire," **Many people groaned but the people from the past looked interested at the title.


	2. Chapter 1: The Riddle House

"**Chapter 1: The Riddle House," **Moony read.

"What do they have to do with this?" Tonks asked.

"Who are the Riddles?" Fudge asked.

"They are Voldemort's family." Cris said simply. Causing the two to glare at Cris.

**The villagers of Little Hangleton still called it "the Riddle House," even though it had been many years since the Riddle family had lived there. **

"Why is that?" Lily asked.

"You'll find out soon, mum." Cris said.

**It stood on a hill overlooking the village, some of its windows boarded, tiles missing from its roof, and ivy spreading unchecked over its face. **

"Sounds lovely," Ginny said with a grimace.

**Once a fine-looking manor, and easily the largest and grandest building for miles around, the Riddle House was now damp, derelict, and unoccupied.**

"What happened to the family?" Kingsley asked.

"Whatever happened, happened a long time ago." Bill said.

**The Little Hagletons all agreed that the old house was "creepy." Half a century ago, something strange and horrible had happened there, something that the older inhabitants of the village still liked to discuss when topics for gossip were scarce. The story had been picked over so many times, and had been embroidered in so many places, that nobody was quite sure what the truth was anymore. Every version of the tale, however, started in the same place: Fifty years before, at daybreak on a fine summer's morning when the Riddle House had still been well kept and impressive, a maid had entered the drawing room to find all three Riddles dead. **

"What happened?" Lily J asked, her mum not telling her about this before.

"I never told you?" Cris asked.

"Not that I can remember." Lily J said.

"I'm sure that it will tell you sooner or later." Cris said.

**The maid had run screaming down the hill into the village and roused as many people as she could.**

**"****Lying there with their eyes wide open! Cold as ice! Still in their dinner things!"**

"A wizard killing," Mr. Weasley whispered.

**The police were summoned, and the whole of Little Hangleton had seethed with shocked curiosity and ill-disguised excitement. Nobody wasted their breath pretending to feel very sad about the Riddles, for they had been most unpopular. Elderly Mr. and Mrs. Riddle had been rich, snobbish, and rude, and their grown-up son, Tom, had been, if anything, worse. All the villagers cared about was the identity of their murderer — for plainly, three apparently healthy people did not all drop dead of natural causes on the same night.**

"Is that what muggles think about the killing curse?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

**The Hanged Man, the village pub, did a roaring trade that night; the whole village seemed to have turned out to discuss the murders. They were rewarded for leaving their firesides when the Riddles' cook arrived dramatically in their midst and announced to the suddenly silent pub that a man called Frank Bryce had just been arrested.**

**"****Frank!" cried several people. "Never!"**

"Nope seeing as he's a Muggle." Ron said.

**Frank Bryce was the Riddles' gardener. He lived alone in a run-down cottage on the grounds of the Riddle House. Frank had come back from the war with a very stiff leg and a great dislike of crowds and loud noises, and had been working for the Riddles ever since.**

"War does that," Gwen said thinking back to her late uncle who killed himself a few years ago. Lily and Hermione nodded in agreement.

**There was a rush to buy the cook drinks and hear more details.**

"Of course they would be, crazy people." Scarlett said. Her brother and boyfriend chuckled a little bit at her but didn't say anything else about it; they were very use to her comments.

**"****Always thought he was odd," she told the eagerly listening villagers, after her fourth sherry. "Unfriendly, like. I'm sure if I've offered him a cuppa once, I've offered it a hundred times. Never wanted to mix, he didn't."**

"But that is what happens when you have some who probably suffers from PTSD, and back then they don't really have another name for it." Hermione said.

**"****Ah, now," said a woman at the bar, "he had a hard war, Frank. He likes the quiet life. That's no reason to —"**

**"Who else had a key to the back door, then?" barked the cook. "There's been a spare key hanging in the gardener's cottage far back as I can remember! Nobody forced the door last night! No broken windows! All Frank had to do was creep up to the big house while we was all sleeping…"**

**The villagers exchanged dark looks.**

**"****I always thought that he had a nasty look about him, right enough," grunted a man at the bar.**

**"****War turned him funny, if you ask me," said the landlord.**

"Like I said, war does that to people." Gwen said sadly. Luna placed a hand on the girls shoulder to give a little support.

**"****Told you I wouldn't like to get on the wrong side of Frank, didn't I, Dot?" said an excited woman in the corner.**

**"****Horrible temper," said Dot, nodding fervently. "I remember, when he was a kid…"**

**By the following morning, hardly anyone in Little Hangleton doubted that Frank Bryce had killed the Riddles. But over in the neighboring town of Great Hangleton, in the dark and dingy police station, Frank was stubbornly repeating, again and again, that he was innocent, and that the only person he had seen near the house on the day of the Riddles' deaths had been a teenage boy, a stranger, dark-haired and pale.**

"That sounds an awful like a young Voldemort." Bill said.

"Could it have been him?" Charlie asked.

"More than likely." Bill said to his younger brother.

**Nobody else in the village had seen any such boy, and the police were quite sure Frank had invented him.**

**Then, just when things were looking very serious for Frank, the report on the Riddles' bodies came back and changed everything. The police had never read an odder report. A team of doctors had examined the bodies and had concluded that none of the Riddles had been poisoned, stabbed, shot, strangles, suffocated, or (as far as they could tell) harmed at all. In fact (the report continued, in a tone of unmistakable bewilderment), the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health — apart from the fact that they were all dead. **

"That does sound strange when you put it like that." Cris said.

**The doctors did note (as though determined to find something wrong with the bodies) that each of the Riddles had a look of terror upon his or her face — but as the frustrated police said, whoever heard of three people being frightened to death?**

"It's the killing curse," Mr. Weasley said offering some comfort for his wife. As she was thinking about her brothers.

**As there was no proof that the Riddles had been murdered at all, the police were forced to let Frank go. **

"Good, seeing as he was innocent." Cris said with a sad smile thinking about the dead Muggle.

"That tends to happen a lot." Sirius said.

**The Riddles were buried in the Little Hangleton churchyard, and their graves remained objects of curiosity for a while. To everyone's surprise, and amid a cloud of suspicion, Frank Bryce returned to his cottage on the grounds of the Riddle House.**

**"****As far as I'm concerned, he killed them, and I don't care what the police say," said Dot in the Hanged Man. "And if he had any decency, he'd leave here, knowing as how we knows he did it."**

**But Frank did not leave. He stayed to tend the garden for the next family who lived in the Riddle House, and then the next — for neither family stayed long.**

"Maybe the house is haunted?" Fred asked.

"No, I think it might be cursed much like the DADA post." Cris said.

"You think so?" George asked.

"Yeah, just a feeling that I have." Cris said. Everyone looked at her and until Moony decided to continue reading.

**Perhaps it was partly because of Frank that the new owners said there was a nasty feeling about the place, which, in the absence of inhabitants, started to fall into disrepair.**

**The wealthy man who owned the Riddle House these days neither lived there nor put it to any use; they said in the village that he kept it for "tax reasons,"**

"What are those?" Ron asked.

"I'll explain later." Hermione said.

"Alright," Ron said.

**though nobody was very clear what these might be. The wealthy owner continued to pay Frank to do the gardening, however. Frank was nearing his seventy-seventh birthday now, very deaf, his bad leg stiffer than ever, but could be seen pottering around the flower beds in fine weather, even though the weeds were starting to creep up on him, try as he might to suppress them.**

**Weeds were not the only things Frank had to contend with either. Boys from the village made a habit of throwing stones through the windows of the Riddle House. They rode their bicycles over the lawns Frank worked so hard to keep smooth. Once or twice, they broke into the old house for a dare. They knew that old Frank's devotion to the house and the grounds amounted almost to an obsession, and it amused them to see him limping across the garden, brandishing his stick and yelling croakily at them. Frank, for his part, believed the boys tormented him because they, like their parents and grandparents, thought him a murderer. So when Frank awoke one night in August and saw something very odd up at the old house, he merely assumed that the boys had gone one step further in their attempts to punish him.**

"I really don't understand why people do that." Cris said.

"It's just like that old creepy house a couple streets over." Gwen said.

"You made me go in there!" Cris said.

"No I went in with you." Gwen said.

"But still, I never thought that I would find a scarier place." Cris said.

"You have?" Lily asked amused at their conversation.

"Well yeah, the chamber was one of them." Cris said.

"What Chamber?" the people who weren't there asked.

"The Chamber of Secrets, I'll show you sometime." Cris said.

**It was Frank's bad leg that woke him; it was paining him worse than ever in his old age. He got up and limped downstairs into the kitchen with the idea of refilling his hot-water bottle to ease the stiffness in his knee. Standing at the sink, filling the kettle, he looked up at the Riddle House and saw lights glimmering in its upper windows. Frank knew at once what was going on. The boys had broken into the house again, and judging by the flickering quality of the light, they had started a fire.**

"Are they trying to burn down the house?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"That is if it is actually the kids." Tonks said.

**Frank had no telephone; in any case, he had deeply mistrusted the police ever since they had taken him in for questioning about the Riddles' deaths. He put down the kettle at once, hurried back upstairs as fast as his bad leg would allow, and was soon back in his kitchen, fully dressed and removing a rusty old key from its hook by the door. He picked up his walking stick, which was propped against the wall, and set off into the night.**

"I don't think that is a smart idea." Kingsley said.

"It wasn't," Cris mumbled, the twins heard her and rubbed her back as Moony continued reading.

**The front door of the Riddle House bore no sign of being forced, nor did any of the windows. Frank limped around to the back of the house until he reached a door almost completely hidden by ivy, took out the old key, put it into the lock, and opened the door noiselessly.**

**He let himself into the cavernous kitchen. Frank had not entered it for many years; nevertheless, although it was very dark, he remembered where the door into the hall was, and he groped his way towards it, his nostrils full of the smell of decay, ears pricked for any sound of footsteps or voices from overhead. **

**He reached the hall, which was a little lighter owing to the large mullioned windows on either side of the front door, and started to climb the stairs, blessing the dust that lay thick upon the stone, because it muffled the sound of his feet and stick. On the landing, Frank turned right, and saw at once where the intruders were: At the every end of the passage a door stood ajar, and a flickering light shone through the gap, casting a long sliver of gold across the black floor. Frank edged closer and closer, he was able to see a narrow slice of the room beyond.**

**The fire, he now saw, had been lit in the grate. This surprised him. Then he stopped moving and listened intently, for a man's voice spoke within the room; it sounded timid and fearful.**

**"****There is a little more in the bottle, My Lord, if you are still hungry."**

"What?!" everyone besides the teachers and Cris asked.

"Is that Voldemort and the rat?" Sirius asked. Cris nodded and the marauders gritted their teeth.

**"****Later," said a second voice. This too belonged to a man — but it was strangely high-pitched, and cold as a sudden blast of icy wind. Something about that voice made the sparse hairs on the back of Frank's neck stand up. "Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail."**

Animalistic growls could be heard from the trio and the marauders causing everyone to look at them.

**Frank turned his right ear toward the door, the better to hear. There came the clink of a bottle being put down upon some hard surface, and then the dull scraping noise of a heavy chair being dragged across the floor. Frank caught a glimpse of a small man, his back to the door, pushing the chair into place. He was wearing a long black cloak, and there was a bald patch at the back of his head. Then he went out of sight again.**

**"****Where is Nagini?" said the cold voice.**

"Whose Nagini?" everyone asked.

"I believe it is his snake." Luna said in her dreamy voice.

"Wait, Nagini is a boa constrictor, I let a boa constrictor out, I think I may have given Voldemort his snake." Cris said sheepishly.

"I doubt that honey." Lily said with a sweet smile. Cris nodded but the thought didn't leave her mind.

**"****I — I don't know, My Lord," said the first voice nervously. "She set out to explore the house, I think…"**

**"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail," said the second voice. "I will need feeding in the night. The journey has tired me greatly."**

"Milking the snake?" Sirius and Padfoot asked, 'no that can't be right, he can't do that.' Padfoot thought whereas Sirius thought, 'he did use that potion then,'

**Brow furrowed, Frank inclined his good ear still closer to the door, listening very hard. There was a pause, and then the man called Wormtail spoke again.**

**"****My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"**

**"****A week," said the cold voice. "Perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over."**

"What are they planning?" Padfoot asked.

"Something horrible." Cris said lowly.

**Frank inserted a gnarled finger into his ear and rotated it. Owing, no doubt, to a buildup of earwax, he had heard the word "Quidditch," which was not a word at all.**

"It is to us." Prongs sang.

"A lot of the words do sound made up though." Gwen said.

"But our spells are Latin." Cris said.

**"****The — the Quidditch World Cup, My Lord?" said Wormtail. (Frank dug his finger still more vigorously into his ear.) "Forgive me, but — I do not understand – why should we wait until the World Cup is over?"**

**"****Because, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, checking and double-checking identities. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we wait."**

**Frank stopped trying to clear out his ear. He had distinctly heard the words "Ministry of Magic," "wizards," and "Muggles." Plainly, each of these expressions meant something secret, and Frank could think of only two sorts of people who would speak in code: spies and criminals. **

"They are definitely both." Robin said.

**Frank tightened his hold on his walking stick once more, and listened more closely still.**

**"****Your Lordship is still determined, then?" Wormtail said quietly.**

**"****Certainly I am determined, Wormtail." There was a note of menace in the cold voice now.**

**A slight pause followed — and the Wormtail spoke, the words tumbling from him in a rush, as though he was forcing himself to say this before he lost his nerve.**

**"****It could be done without Cristal Potter, My Lord."**

"Is he trying to save your life?" Prongs asked surprised.

"I think he is." Cris said equally surprised.

**Another pause, more protracted, and then —**

**"****Without Cristal Potter?" breathed the second voice softly. "I see…"**

**"****My Lord, I do not say this out of concern for the girl!" said Wormtail, his voice rising squeakily. "The girl is nothing to me, nothing at all! **

"We should have seen it," Remus said.

"He never really liked her to begin with either." Robin said.

"He didn't?" Prongs asked sadly.

"You know Peter, he never really liked kids." Sirius said.

**It is merely that if we were to use another witch or wizard — any wizard — the thing could be done so much more quickly! If you allowed me to leave you for a short while — you know that I can disguise myself most effectively — I could be back here in as little as two days with a suitable person —"**

**"****I could use another wizard," said the cold voice softly, "that is true…"**

**"****My Lord, it makes sense," said Wormtail, sounding thoroughly relieved now. "Laying hands on Cristal Potter would be so difficult; she is so well protected —"**

"Good," everyone said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Lily said.

**"****And so you volunteer to go and fetch me a substitute? I wonder… perhaps the task of nursing me has become wearisome for you, Wormtail? Could this suggestion of abandoning the plan be nothing more than an attempt to desert me?"**

**"****My Lord! I — I have no wish to leave you, none at all —"**

"Sure he isn't," Tonks said under her breath.

**"****Do not lie to me!" hissed the second voice. "I can always tell, Wormtail! You are regretting that you ever returned to me. I revolt you. I see you flinch when you look at me, feel you shudder when you touch me…"**

**"****No! My devotion to Your Lordship —"**

**"****Your devotion is nothing more than cowardice. You would not be here if you had anywhere else to go. How am I to survive without you, when I need feeding every few hours? Who is to milk Nagini?"**

**"****But you seem so much stronger, My Lord —"**

**"****Liar," breathed the second voice. "I am no stronger, and a few days alone would be enough to rob me of the little health I have regained under your clumsy care. Silence!"**

**Wormtail, who had been sputtering incoherently, fell silent at once. For a few seconds, Frank could hear nothing but the fire crackling. Then the second man spoke once more, in a whisper that was almost a hiss.**

**"****I have my reasons for using the girl, as I have already explained to you, and I will use no other. **

"What does he want with you?" Lily asked.

"It's at the end of the book of mum," Cris said.

"Alright but I don't like it any more than anyone else." Lily mumbled under her breath.

**I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no difference. As for the protection surrounding the girl, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail — courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldemort's wrath —"**

**"****My Lord, I must speak!" said Wormtail, panic in his voice now. "All through our journey I have gone over the plan in my head — My Lord, Bertha Jorkin's **

Cris gasped, she didn't remember the name before until it was read now.

**disappearance will not go unnoticed for long, and if we proceed, if I murder —"**

**"****If?" whispered the second voice. "If? If you follow the plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and without fuss; I only wish that I could do it myself, but in my present condition… Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Cristal Potter is clear. I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us —" **

"What faithful servant?" everyone asked.

"Someone we thought was dead." Cris said.

**"****I am a faithful servant," said Wormtail, the merest trace of sullenness in his voice.**

"Yeah right, you're just a weakling." Sirius said.

**"****Wormtail, I need somebody with brains, somebody whose loyalty has never wavered, and you, unfortunately, fulfill neither requirement."**

"Ha-ha," people said.

**"****I found you," said Wormtail, and there was definitely a sulky edge to his voice now. "I was the one who found you. I brought you Bertha Jorkins."**

**"****That is true," said the second man, sounding amused. "A stroke of brilliance I would not have thought possible from you, Wormtail — though, if truth be told, you were not aware how useful she would be when you caught her, were you?"**

**"****I — I thought she might be useful, My Lord —"**

**"****Liar," said the second voice again, the cruel amusement more pronounced than ever. "However, I do not deny that her information was invaluable. Without it, I could never have formed our plan, and for that, you will have your reward, Wormtail. I will allow you to perform an essential task for me, one that many of my followers would give their right hands to perform…"**

**"****R-really, My Lord? What —?" Wormtail sounded terrified again. **

"I hope it does terrify him." Sirius sneered.

"I did," Cris said remembering the fear in his eyes months ago.

**"****Ah, Wormtail, you don't want me to spoil the surprise? Your part will come at the very end… but I promise you, you will have the honor of being just as useful as Bertha Jorkins." **

"So he kills him?" Robin asked.

"No, he didn't kill him, just opposite really." Cris said.

**"****You… you…" Wormtail's voice suddenly sounded hoarse, as though his mouth had gone very dry. "You… are going… to kill me too?"**

**"****Wormtail, Wormtail," said the cold voice silkily, "why would I kill you? I killed Bertha because I had to.**

"No by now he does it for the mere pleasure." Remus said fiercely.

**She was fit for nothing after my questioning, quite useless. In any case, awkward questions would have been asked if she had gone back to the Ministry with the news that she had met you on her holidays. Wizards who are supposed to be dead would do well not to run into Ministry of Magic witches at wayside inns…"**

"Peter was never very smart when it comes to things like that." Robin said. The other marauders nodded in agreement.

**Wormtail muttered something so quietly that Frank could not hear it, but it made the second man laugh — an entirely mirthless laugh, cold as his speech.**

**"****We could have modified her memory? But Memory Charms can be broken by a powerful wizard, as I proved when I questioned her. It would be an insult to her memory not to use the information I extracted from her, Wormtail."**

"He can break memory charms?" asked a shocked Mr. Weasley.

"Apparently." Sirius said.

**Out in the corridor, Frank suddenly became aware that the hand gripping his walking stick was slippery with sweat. The man with the cold voice had killed a woman. He was talking about it without any kind of remorse — with amusement. He was dangerous — a madman. And he was planning more murders — this girl, Cristal Potter, whoever she was — was in danger — Frank knew what he must do. Now, if ever, was the time to go to the police. **

"I doubt he could," Neville said.

**He would creep out of the house and head straight for the telephone box in the village… but the cold voice was speaking again, and Frank remained where he was, frozen to the spot, listening with all his might.**

**"****One more murder… my faithful servant at Hogwarts…**

"There was a Death Eater at Hogwarts?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Wasn't the first time." Cris whispered thinking back to Quirrell.

**Cristal Potter is as good as mine, Wormtail. It is decided. There will be no more argument. But quiet… I think I hear Nagini…"**

**And the second man's voice changed. He started making noises such as Frank had never heard before; he was hissing and spitting without drawing breath. Frank thought he must be having some sort of fit or seizure.**

"Is that what it sounds like to other people?" Cris asked.

"No not really, you just sounded like you're hissing at people." Ron said. Cris nodded and Moony continued reading.

**And then Frank heard movement behind him in the dark passageway. He turned to look, and found himself paralyzed with fright. Something was slithering toward him along the dark corridor floor, and as it drew nearer to the sliver of firelight, he realized with a thrill of terror that it was a gigantic snake, at least twelve feet long. **

"And now he's toast." Gwen said.

"Sadly," Lily said.

**Horrified, transfixed, Frank stared as its undulating body cut a wide, curving track through the thick dust on the floor, coming closer and closer — What was he to do? The only means of escape was into the room where the two men sat plotting murder, yet if he stayed where he was the snake would surely kill him —**

**But before he had made his decision, the snake was level with him, and then, incredibly, miraculously, it was passing; it was following the spitting, hissing noises made by the cold voice beyond the door, and in seconds, the tip of its diamond-patterned tail had vanished through the gap.**

"He really needs to get out of there." Charlie said.

"I don't think he does though." Bill said.

"He doesn't," Cris said.

"How do you know?" Sirius asked.

"You'll find out." Cris whispered.

**There was sweat on Frank's forehead now, and the hand on the walking stick was trembling. Inside the room, the cold voice was continuing to hiss, and Frank was visited by a strange idea, an impossible idea… This man could talk to snakes.**

"Yep, he sure can." Hermione said.

**Frank didn't understand what was going on. He wanted more than anything to be back in his bed with his hot-water bottle. The problem was that his legs didn't seem to want to move. As he stood there shaking and trying to master himself, the cold voice switched abruptly to English again.**

**"Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail," it said.**

**"In-indeed, My Lord?" said Wormtail.**

**"Indeed, yes," said the voice, "According to Nagini, there is an old Muggle standing right outside this room, listening to every word we say."**

**Frank didn't have a chance to hide himself. There were footsteps and then the door of the room was flung wide open.**

**A short, balding man with graying hair, a pointed nose, and small, watery eyes stood before Frank, a mixture of fear and alarm in his face.**

**"Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?" The cold voice was coming from the ancient armchair before the fire, but Frank couldn't see the speaker. The snake, on the other hand, was curled up on the rotting hearth rug, like some horrible travesty of a pet dog. Wormtail beckoned Frank into the room. Though still deeply shaken, Frank took a firmer grip on his walking stick and limped over the threshold.**

**The fire was the only source of light in the room; it cast long, spidery shadows upon the walls. Frank stared at the back of the armchair; the man inside it seemed to be even smaller than his servant, for Frank couldn't even see the back of his head.**

"He doesn't have a body." Keiran said quirking an eyebrow.

"He does know," Cris said under her breath.

**"You heard everything, Muggle?" said the cold voice.**

**"What's that you're calling me?" said Frank defiantly, for now that he was inside the room, now that the time had come for some sort of action, he felt braver; it had always been so in the war.**

"He would have been in Gryffindor." McGonagall said.

**"I am calling you a Muggle," said the voice coolly. "It means that you are not a wizard."**

**"I don't know what you mean by wizard," said Frank, his voice growing steadier. "All I know is I've heard enough to interest the police tonight, I have. You've done murder and you're planning more! And I'll tell you this too," he added, on a sudden inspiration, "my wife knows I'm up here, and if I don't come back —" **

"He's either very brave or very foolish." Kingsley said.

"Both, kind of like Cris." Gwen said. This earned a pillow in the face by said girl.

**"You have no wife," said the cold voice, very quietly. "Nobody knows you are here. You told nobody that you were coming. Do not lie to Lord Voldemort, Muggle, for he knows… he always knows…"**

**"Is that right?" said Frank roughly. "Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, My Lord. Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?"**

**"But I am not a man, Muggle," said the cold voice, barely audible now over the crackling of the flames. "I am much, much more than a man. **

"No you're not." People aid.

**"You heard me, Wormtail."**

**Slowly, with his face screwed up, as though he would rather have done anything than approach his master and the hearth rug where the snake lay, the small man walked forward and began to turn the chair. The snake lifted its ugly triangular head and hissed slightly as the legs of the chair snagged on its rug.**

**And then the chair was facing Frank, and he saw what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the floor with a clatter. He opened his mouth and let out a scream. He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor.**

"Really, he killed that easily?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, he did." The group said either remembering from the first war or what happened a few months ago.

**Two hundred miles away, the girl called Cristal Potter woke with a start. **

"That's the chapter," Moony said.

"You dreamt all that?" Tonks asked.

"Not all of it, just the part when Voldy showed up." Cris said. Moony handed the book to Padfoot and they start the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2: The Scar

"**Chapter 2: The Scar," **Padfoot read.

"What does you scar have to do with this?" Lily asked concerned for her daughter.

"It'll explain mum, just let Padfoot continue reading." Cris said. Lily nodded reluctantly and Padfoot started the chapter.

**Cris lay flat on her back, breathing hard as though she had been running. She had awoken from a vivid dream with her hands pressed over her face. The old scar on her forehead, which was shaped like a bolt of lightning, was burning beneath her fingers as though someone had just pressed a white-hot wire to her skin.**

"Why was it hurting?" Prongs asked.

"Voldemort was feeling very emotional," Cris whispered just as she rubbed her forehead.

**She sat up, one hand still on her scar, the other hand reaching out in the darkness for her glasses, which were on the bedside table. She put them on and her bedroom came into clearer focus, lit by a faint, misty orange light that was filtering through the curtains from the street lamp outside the window.**

**Cris ran her fingers over the scar again. It was still painful. She turned on the lamp beside her, scrambled out of bed, crossed the room, opened her wardrobe, and peered into the mirror on the inside of the door. A skinny girl of fourteen looked back at her, her bright green eyes puzzled under her untidy long black hair. She examined the lightning-bolt scar of her reflection more closely. It looked normal, but it was still stinging. **

"Scars aren't supposed to do that though." Robin said.

"I'm sure all will be explained soon." Dumbledore said. The group nodded and Padfoot continued reading.

**Cris tried to recall what she had been dreaming about before she had awoken. It had seemed so real… There had been two people she knew and one she didn't… She concentrated hard, frowning, trying to remember… The dim picture of a darkened room came to her… There had been a snake on a hearth rug… a small man called Peter, nicknamed Wormtail… and a cold, high voice… the voice of Lord Voldemort. Cris felt as though an ice cube had slipped down into her stomach at the very thought…**

The group shivered at the thought.

**She closed her eyes tightly and tried to remember what Voldemort had looked like, but it was impossible… All Cris knew was that at the moment when Voldemort's chair had swung around, and she, Cris, had seen what was sitting in it, she had felt a spasm of horror, which had awoken her… or had that been the pain in her scar?**

"Maybe both," Ginny said.

"It probably was." Cris said with a shrug.

**And who had the old man been? For there had definitely been an old man; Cris had watched him fall to the ground. It was all becoming confused. Cris put her face into her hands, blocking out her bedroom, trying to hold on to the picture of that dimly lit room, but it was like trying to keep water in her cupped hands; the details were now trickling away as fast as she tried to hold on to them… Voldemort and Wormtail had been talking about someone they had killed, though Cris could not remember the name…**

"That would have made things a lot easier." Tonks said.

"The thing is though, would you guys believe me?" Cris asked.

"It would seem a little far-fetched." Kingsley said.

**and they had been plotting to kill someone else… her!**

**Cris took her face out of her hands, opened her eyes, and stared around her bedroom as though expecting to see something unusual there. As it happened, there was an extraordinary number of unusual things in this room. A large wooden trunk stood open at the foot of her bed, revealing a cauldron, broomstick, black robes, and assorted spell books. **

"They allowed you to have them in your room?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Cris said smiling at the memory.

**Rolls of parchment littered that part of her desk that was not taken up by the large, empty cage in which her snowy owl, Hedwig, usually perched. On the floor beside her bed a book lay open; Cris had been reading it before she fell asleep last night. The pictures in this book were all moving. Men in bright orange robes were zooming in and out of sight on broomsticks, throwing a red ball to one another. **

"A present from Ron," Cris said. People shook their heads but had smiles on their faces.

"Only Ron would give you something like that." Fred said with a smile one his face.

"Oi!"

**Cris walked over to the book, picked it up, and watched on of the wizards score a spectacular goal by putting the ball through a fifty-foot-high hoop. Then she snapped the book shut. Even Quidditch — in Cris' opinion, the best sport in the world — **

"It is," cried the quidditch fans.

**couldn't distract her at the moment. She placed Flying with the Cannons on her bedside table, crossed to the window, and drew back the curtains to survey the street below.**

**Privet Drive looked exactly as a respectable suburban street would be expected to look in the early hours of Saturday morning. All the curtains were closed. As far as Cris could see through the darkness, there wasn't a living creature in sight, not even a cat.**

"What time was it?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know maybe three in the morning." Cris said.

"That's early." Lily J said.

**And yet… and yet… Cris went restlessly back to the bed and sat down on it, running a finger over her scar again. It wasn't the pain that bothered her; Cris was no stranger to pain and injury. **

"That's true," said the group once again.

"I'm not that bad." Cris said.

"The hospital wing is like you second home apart from the dorms." Hermione said. Cris huffed as the group laughed. Soon Padfoot continued reading once again.

**She had lost all the bones from her right arm once and had them painfully re-grown in a night.**

"That doesn't sound like fun." Gwen said.

"It wasn't." Cris said.

**The same arm had been pierced by a venomous foot-long fang not long afterward.**

"What the hell?" Robin asked.

"A basilisk." Cris said.

"How are you still alive?" Victoire asked looking at her aunt like she might disappear.

"Phoenix tears are a wonderful antidote." Cris said.

**Only last year Cris had fallen fifty feet from an airborne broomstick. She was used to bizarre accidents and injuries; they were unavoidable if you attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and had a knack for attracting a lot of trouble. **

"That is very true." Everyone said. Cris huffed once again.

**No, the thing that was bothering Cris was the last time her scar had hurt her, it had been because Voldemort had been close by… But Voldemort couldn't be here, now… The idea of Voldemort lurking in Privet Drive was absurd, impossible…**

"He wasn't there was he?" Sirius asked.

"No, he can't get to her there." Dumbledore said.

**Cris listened closely to the silence around her. Was she half expecting to hear the creak of a stair or the swish of a cloak? And then she jumped slightly as she heard her cousin Dudley give a tremendous grunting snore from the next room.**

**Cris shook herself mentally; she was being stupid. There was no one in the house with her except Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley, and they were plainly still asleep, their dreams untroubled and painless.**

**Asleep was the way Cris liked the Dursley's best;**

"And even then I don't like them." Cris muttered under her breath.

**it wasn't as though they were ever any help to her awake. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were Cris' only living relatives. They were Muggles who hated and despised magic in any form, which meant that Cris was about as welcome in their house as dry rot. They had explained away Cris' long absences at Hogwarts over the last three years by telling everyone that she went to St. Bernadette's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Girls.**

Everyone who was there for that fumed. Fudge looked a little peeved but didn't say anything else and Umbridge just smiled.

**They knew perfectly well that, as an underage witch, Cris wasn't allowed to use magic outside Hogwarts, but they were still apt to blame her for anything that went wrong about the house. Cris had never been able to confide in them or tell them anything about her life in the wizarding world. **

**The very idea of going to them when they awoke, and telling them about her scar hurting her, and about her worries about Voldemort, was laughable.**

**And yet it was because of Voldemort that Cris had come to live with the Dursley's in the first place. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Cris would not have had the lightning scar on her forehead. If it hadn't been for Voldemort, Cris would still have had parents…**

Padfoot stopped reading and looked up, "It repeats it again."

"Just continue reading dad, we'll try not to interrupt." Keiran said.

"Repeat what?" Fudge asked. Nobody answered him and Padfoot continued reading.

**Cris had been a year old the night that Voldemort — the most powerful Dark wizard for a century, a wizard who had been gaining power steadily for eleven years — arrived at her house and killed her father and mother. Voldemort had then turned his wand on Cris; he had performed the curse that had disposed of many full-grown witches and wizards in his steady rise to power — and, incredibly, it had not worked. Instead of killing the small girl, the curse had rebounded upon Voldemort. Cris had survived with nothing but a lightning-shaped cut on her forehead, and Voldemort had been reduced to something barely alive. His powers gone, his life almost extinguished, Voldemort had fled; the terror in which the secret community of witches and wizards had lived for so long had lifted, Voldemort's followers had disbanded, and Cristal Potter had become famous.**

**It had been enough of a shock for Cris to discover, on her eleventh birthday, that she was a witch;**

"You didn't know?" Gwen asked.

"Hagrid told me on my birthday." Cris said with a smile remembering the incident.

**it had been even more disconcerting to find out that everyone in the hidden wizarding world knew her name. Cris had arrived at Hogwarts to find that heads turned and whispers followed her wherever she went. But she was used to it now: **

**At the end of this summer, she would be starting her fourth year at Hogwarts, and Cris was already counting the days until she would be back at the castle again.**

**But there was still a fortnight to go before she went back to school. She looked hopelessly around her room again, and her eye paused on the birthday cards her two best friends had sent her at the end of July. What would they say if Cris wrote to them and told them about her scar hurting?**

**At once, Hermione Granger's voice seemed to fill her head, shrill and panicky.**

"It's not shrill!" Hermione cried. Cris smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulders.

**"Your scar hurt? Cris, that's really serious… Write to Professor Dumbledore! And I'll go and check Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions… Maybe there's something in there about curse scars…" **

Everyone laughed as Hermione blushed, that is exactly what she would have done.

**Yes that would be Hermione's advice: Go straight to the headmaster of Hogwarts, and in the meantime, consult a book. Cris stared out of the window at the inky blue-black sky. She doubted very much whether a book could help her now. As far as she knew, she was the only living person to have survived a curse like Voldemort's; it was highly unlikely, therefore, that she would find her symptoms listed in Common Magical Ailments and Afflictions. **

"Very logical, I can see why you would have fit into any house." Kingsley said. Robin looked shocked but as she thought about it, it did make sense. Cris was brave, cunning, loyal and smart.

**As for informing the headmaster, Cris had no idea where Dumbledore went during the summer holidays. She amused herself for a moment, picturing Dumbledore, with his long silver beard, full length wizard's robes, and pointed hat, stretched out on a beach somewhere, rubbing suntan lotion onto his long crooked nose. **

Everyone, including Dumbledore as that picture came to mind.

**Wherever Dumbledore was, though, Cris was sure that Hedwig would be able to find him; Cris' owl had never yet failed to deliver a letter to anyone, even without an address. But what would she write?**

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**_

_**Sorry to bother you, but my scar hurt this morning.**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Cristal Potter.**_

**Even inside her head the words sounded stupid.**

"Nothing is stupid when it comes to things like that." Dumbledore said.

"Who did you end of writing to?" Prongs asked.

"You'll see dad," Cris said with a smile.

**And so she tried to imagine her other best friend, Ron Weasley's, reaction, and in a moment, Ron's red hair and long-nosed, freckled face seemed to swim before Cris, wearing a bemused expression.**

**"Your scar hurt? But… but You-Know-Who can't be near you now, can he? I mean… you'd know, wouldn't you? He'd be trying to do you in again, wouldn't he? I dunno, Cris, maybe curse scars always twinge a bit… I'll ask Dad…"**

Ron blushed bright red as the group laughed once again, that would have been exactly what he would have said.

**Mr. Weasley was a fully qualified wizard who worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, but he didn't have any particular expertise in the matter of curses, as far as Cris knew. In any case, Cris didn't like the idea of the whole Weasley family knowing that she, Cris, was getting jumpy about a few moments' pain. Mrs. Weasley would fuss worse than Hermione, and Fred and George, Ron's sixteen- year-old twin brothers, might think Cris was losing her nerve. The Weasley's were Cris' favorite family in the world; **

A cry of thanks was heard from said Weasley's.

**she was hoping that they might invite her to stay any time now (Ron had mentioned something about the Quidditch World Cup), and she somehow didn't want her visit punctuated with anxious inquiries about her scar.**

**Cris kneaded her forehead with her knuckles. What she really wanted (and it felt almost shameful to admit it to herself) was someone like - someone like a parent:**

"That's not shameful Bambi," Fred said.

"That's just normal." George said as they hugged her close and kissed her head.

**an adult wizard whose advice she could ask without feeling stupid, someone who cared about her, who had had experience with Dark Magic…**

"Then write either Sirius or Remus." Lily said.

**And then the solution came to her. It was so simple, and so obvious, that she couldn't believe it had taken so long - Sirius.**

"That's alright; you only met me a few months prior to that." Sirius said with a smile.

**Cris leapt up from the bed, hurried across the room, and sat down at her desk; she pulled a piece of parchment toward her, loaded her eagle-feather quill with ink, wrote Dear Sirius, then paused, wondering how best to phrase her problem, still marveling at the fact that she hadn't thought of Sirius straight away. But then, perhaps it wasn't so surprising - after all, she had only found out that Sirius was her godfather two months ago.**

**There was a simple reason for Sirius's complete absence from Cris' life until then - Sirius had been in Azkaban, the terrifying wizard jail guarded by creatures called Dementors, sightless, soul-sucking fiends who had come to search for Sirius at Hogwarts when he had escaped. Yet Sirius had been innocent - the murders for which he had been convicted had been committed by Wormtail, Voldemort's supporter, whom nearly everybody now believed dead. Cris, Ron, and Hermione knew otherwise, however; they had come face-to-face with Wormtail only the previous year, though only Professor Dumbledore had believed their story. **

"And now we have proof," Tonks said with a smile, determined to prove her favorite cousin innocent.

**For one glorious hour, Cris had believed that she was leaving the Dursley's at last, because Sirius had offered her a home once his name had been cleared. **

**But the chance had been snatched away from her - Wormtail had escaped before they could take him to the Ministry of Magic, and Sirius had had to flee for his life. Cris had helped him escape on the back of a hippogriff called Buckbeak, and since then, Sirius had been on the run. The home Cris might have had if Wormtail had not escaped had been haunting her all summer. It had been doubly hard to return to the Dursley's knowing that she had so nearly escaped them forever. **

Growls were heard from the marauders about the traitor.

**Nevertheless, Sirius had been of some help to Cris, even if she couldn't be with him. It was due to Sirius that Cris now had all her school things in her bedroom with her. The Dursley's had never allowed this before; their general wish of keeping Cris as miserable as possible, coupled with their fear of her powers, had led them to lock her school trunk in the cupboard under the stairs every summer prior to this. But their attitude had changed since they had found out that Cris had a dangerous murderer for a godfather - for Cris had conveniently forgotten to tell them that Sirius was innocent.**

"Good leverage," Robin said with a chuckle.

"It was great," Cris said with a smile.

**Cris had received two letters from Sirius since she had been back at Privet Drive. Both had been delivered, not by owls (as was usual with wizards), but by large, brightly colored tropical birds. **

The marauders laughed and rolled their eyes, "That sounds like something you would do." Prongs said through his laughter.

**Hedwig had not approved of these flashy intruders; she had been most reluctant to allow them to drink from her water tray before flying off again. Cris, on the other hand, had liked them; they put her in mind of palm trees and white sand, and she hoped that, wherever Sirius was (Sirius never said, in case the letters were intercepted), he was enjoying himself. **

"Good," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Well I was an Auror at one point." Sirius said with a shrug.

**Somehow, Cris found it hard to imaging Dementors surviving for long in bright sunlight, perhaps that was why Sirius had gone South. Sirius's letters, which were now hidden beneath the highly useful loose floorboards under Cris' bed, sounded cheerful, and in both of them he had reminded Cris to call on him if ever Cris needed to. Well, she needed to right now, all right…**

**Cris' lamp seemed to grow dimmer as the cold gray light that precedes sunrise slowly crept into the room. Finally, when the sun had risen, when her bedroom walls had turned gold, and when sounds of movement could be heard from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's room, Cris cleared her desk of crumpled pieces of parchment and reread her finished letter.**

_**Dear Sirius,**_

_**Thanks for your last letter. That bird was enormous; it could hardly get through my window. Things are the same as usual here. Dudley's diet isn't going too well. **_

"He was finally put on a diet?" Remus asked with a highly amused smile.

"Yeah, the school nurse at his school literally told my aunt and uncle to put him on one." Cris said.

"Good, that wasn't very good for him." Robin said.

_**My aunt found him smuggling doughnuts into his room yesterday. They told him they'd have to cut his pocket money if he keeps doing it,**_

"Finally some discipline," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Too bad it had to come because of an ultimatum." Cris whispered.

_**so he got really angry and chucked his PlayStation out of the window. That's a sort of computer thing you can play games on. Bit stupid really, now he hasn't even got Mega-Mutilation Part Three to take his mind off things.**_

_**I'm okay, mainly because the Dursley's are terrified you might turn up and turn them all into bats if I ask you to. **_

"And I would have if I had known what they were putting you through." Sirius said with a snarl.

_**A weird thing happened this morning, though. My scar hurt again. Last time that happened it was because Voldemort was at Hogwarts. But I don't reckon he can be anywhere near me now, can he? Do you know if curse scars sometimes hurt years afterward?**_

_**I'll send this with Hedwig when she gets back; she's off hunting at the moment. Say hello to Buckbeak for me.**_

_**Cris **_

**Yes, thought Cris, that looked all right. There was no point putting in the dream; she didn't want it to look as though she was too worried. **

"You should have, then I would have told Dumbledore why I was coming back." Sirius said. Cris smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.

**She folded up the parchment and laid it aside on her desk, ready for when Hedwig returned. Then she got to her feet, stretched, and opened her wardrobe once more. Without glancing at her reflection she started to get dressed before going down to breakfast. **

"That's the chapter." Padfoot said. He handed it to Percy and they started the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 3: The Invitation

"**Chapter 3: The Invitation," **Draco read.

"Sounds like it has something to do with the world cup." Remus said.

"Maybe," the trio said.

**By the time Cris arrived in the kitchen, the three Dursley's were already seated around the table. None of them looked up as she entered or sat down. Uncle Vernon's large red face was hidden behind the morning's Daily Mail, and Aunt Petunia was cutting a grapefruit into quarters, her lips pursed over her horse-like teeth.**

**Dudley looked furious and sulky, and somehow seemed to be taking up even more space than usual. This was saying something, as he always took up an entire side of the square table by himself. When Aunt Petunia put a quarter of unsweetened grapefruit onto Dudley's plate with a tremulous "There you are, Diddy darling," **

This caused the group to laugh.

"My dear sister, that is worse than usual." Lily said through her giggles.

"I'm used to it." Cris said with a shrug.

**Dudley glowered at her. His life had taken a most unpleasant turn since he had come home for the summer with his end-of-year report.**

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had managed to find excuses for his bad marks as usual: Aunt Petunia always insisted that Dudley was a very gifted boy whose teachers didn't understand him, while Uncle Vernon maintained that "he didn't want some swotty little nancy boy for a son anyway." **

"And there they go again, encouraging this type of behavior." Tonks said.

"Are they always like this?" Fudge asked really surprised.

"Sadly," Cris said.

**They also skated over the accusations of bullying in the report - "He's a boisterous little boy, but he wouldn't hurt a fly!" **

"Yeah right," Gwen and Cris said. The both of them shoulders and arms where they were punched and had a broken bone from the bullying git.

**Aunt Petunia had said tearfully. However, at the bottom of the report there were a few well-chosen comments from the school nurse that not even Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia could explain away. No matter how much Aunt Petunia wailed that Dudley was big-boned, and that his poundage was really puppy fat, and that he was a growing boy who needed plenty of food, the fact remained that the school outfitters didn't stock knickerbockers big enough for him anymore. **

"Now that is just downright unhealthy." Tonks said with a disgusted look on her face.

"No kidding," Cris muttered.

**The school nurse had seen what Aunt Petunia's eyes - so sharp when it came to spotting fingerprints on her gleaming walls, and in observing the comings and goings of the neighbors - simply refused to see: that far from needing extra nourishment, Dudley had reached roughly the size and weight of a young killer whale.**

"Bad mental images, Bambi." Fred said.

"I doubt he was that big." Tonks said.

"He was," Cris, Gwen, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and Ron said.

"That's just crazy." Lily said.

**So - after many tantrums, after arguments that shook Cris' bedroom floor, and many tears from Aunt Petunia - the new regime had begun. The diet sheet that had been sent by the Smeltings school nurse had been taped to the fridge, which had been emptied of all Dudley's favorite things - fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called "rabbit food." **

**To make Dudley feel better about it all, Aunt Petunia had insisted that the whole family follow the diet too. She now passed a grapefruit quarter to Cris. She noticed that it was a lot smaller than Dudley's. Aunt Petunia seemed to feel that the best way to keep up Dudley's morale was to make sure that he did, at least, get more to eat than Cris.**

"Sure give the only person who does need to eat more, less food, what great thinking they have." Robin growled.

"I never really understood my aunt." Cris said.

"Don't try to sweetie; you'll just get a headache." Lily said. Cris smiled ad chuckled a bit.

**But Aunt Petunia didn't know what was hidden under the loose floorboard upstairs. She had no idea that Cris was not following the diet at all. **

"Good for you." Lily said.

"You sent letters to your friends didn't you?" Prongs asked. Cris nodded with a smile.

**The moment she had got wind of the fact that she was expected to survive the summer on carrot sticks, Cris had sent Hedwig to her friends with pleas for help, and they had risen to the occasion magnificently. Hedwig had returned from Hermione's house with a large box stuffed full of sugar-free snacks.**

"Why sugar-free?" Gwen asked.

"My parents are dentists." Hermione said. Gwen suppressed a shudder.

"I have had bad experience with dentists." Gwen said.

**(Hermione's parents were dentists.) Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, had obliged with a sack full of his own homemade rock cakes. (Cris hadn't touched these; she had had too much experience of Hagrid's cooking.) Mrs. Weasley, however, had sent the family owl, Errol, with an enormous fruitcake and assorted meat pies. Poor Errol, who was elderly and feeble, had needed a full five days to recover from the journey. **

"You really need to get a new owl." Robin said. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked down but they completely missed the looks from Bill and Charlie.

**And then on Cris' birthday (which the Dursley's had completely ignored)**

Dark glares and growls could be heard and Fudge looked shocked at the news.

**she had received four superb birthday cakes, one each from Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, and Sirius. Cris still had two of them left, and so, looking forward to a real breakfast when she got back upstairs, she ate his grapefruit without complaint. **

"That's not a real breakfast." Lily said.

"It's better than nothing though." Prongs said.

"That's true," Lily said.

**Uncle Vernon laid aside his paper with a deep sniff of disapproval and looked down at his own grapefruit quarter.**

**"Is this it?" he said grumpily to Aunt Petunia.**

**Aunt Petunia gave him a severe look, and then nodded pointedly at Dudley, who had already finished his own grapefruit quarter and was eyeing Cris' with a very sour look in his piggy little eyes.**

"Don't you dare touch her breakfast." Lily snapped at the book.

**Uncle Vernon gave a great sigh, which ruffled his large, bushy mustache, and picked up his spoon.**

**The doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon heaved himself out of his chair and set off down the hall. Quick as a flash, while his mother was occupied with the kettle, Dudley stole the rest of Uncle Vernon's grapefruit.**

"Wow, what a pig." Tonks said.

**Cris heard talking at the door, and someone laughing, and Uncle Vernon answering curtly. **

**Then the front door closed, and the sound of ripping paper came from the hall.**

**Aunt Petunia set the teapot down on the table and looked curiously around to see where Uncle Vernon had got to. She didn't have to wait long to find out; after about a minute, he was back. He looked livid.**

**"You," he barked at Cris. "In the living room. Now."**

"What is he blaming you for now?" Sirius asked.

"Something ridiculous I bet." Prongs said who was missed the looks from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

**Bewildered, wondering what on earth she was supposed to have done this time, Cris got up and followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the next room. Uncle Vernon closed the door sharply behind both of them.**

**"So," he said, marching over to the fireplace and turning to face Cris as though he were about to pronounce her under arrest. "So."**

**Cris would have dearly loved to have said, "So what?" but she didn't feel that Uncle Vernon's temper should be tested this early in the morning, especially when it was already under severe strain from lack of food. She therefore settled for looking politely puzzled.**

"Did you pull it off?" Robin asked.

"Maybe, I'm not sure but it seemed to have worked." Cris said.

**"This just arrived," said Uncle Vernon. He brandished a piece of purple writing paper at Cris. "A letter. About you."**

"You didn't get in trouble did you?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No, you'll see what I did." Cris said with a smirk.

**Cris' confusion increased. Who would be writing to Uncle Vernon about her? The only person she knew who would write to them through postman was Gwen and her family.**

**Uncle Vernon glared at Cris, then looked down at the letter and began to read aloud:**

_**Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,**_

_**We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Cris about my son Ron.**_

"Did you ever talk to him about us?" Hermione asked.

"No, they wouldn't care." Cris said.

_**As Cris might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports. I do hope you will allow us to take Cris to the match, as this really is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity; **_

"Did you get to go?" Prongs asked. All Cris did was smile.

_**Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Cris stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see her safely onto the train back to school.**_

"They wouldn't care." Sirius said.

_**It would be best for Cris to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is.**_

_**Hoping to see Cris soon,**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Molly Weasley**_

_**P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on. **_

"How many stamps did you put on?" Robin asked.

"I may have gotten carried away." Mrs. Weasley said, "I hope I didn't get her into trouble."

"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I used the Sirius card." Cris said. This caused Sirius to smile widely at his goddaughter, proud of her pranking the Dursley's.

**Uncle Vernon finished reading, put his hand back into his breast pocket, and drew out something else.**

**"Look at this," he growled.**

**He held up the envelope in which Mrs. Weasley's letter had come, and Cris had to fight down a laugh. Every bit of it was covered in stamps except for a square inch on the front, into which Mrs. Weasley had squeezed the Dursley's address in minute writing. **

The group laughed and Mrs. Weasley blushed brightly.

"Didn't you take Muggle Studies, mum?" Ginny asked. When Mrs. Weasley shook her head no they laughed a little bit more. Finally they calmed down and Draco continued reading.

**"She did put enough stamps on, then," said Cris, trying to sound as though Mrs. Weasley's was a mistake anyone could make. **

"It is if you're from a pureblood family which Mrs. Weasley is from." Remus said. Mrs. Weasley smiled at Remus in thanks and he just smiled back at her.

**His uncle's eyes flashed.**

**"The postman noticed," he said through gritted teeth. "Very interested to know where this letter came from, he was. That's why he rang the doorbell. Seemed to think it was funny."**

"Well it is," Robin said still chuckling a bit.

**Cris didn't say anything. Other people might not understand why Uncle Vernon was making a fuss about too many stamps, but Cris had lived with the Dursley's too long not to know how touchy they were about anything even slightly out of the ordinary. Their worst fear was that someone would find out that they were connected (however distantly) with people like Mrs. Weasley.**

"Maybe I should tell my parents." Gwen said grinning mischievously. Cris noticed that grin.

"Gwen whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it." Cris said. Gwen pouted and crossed her arms.

**Uncle Vernon was still glaring at Cris, who tried to keep her expression neutral. If she didn't do or say anything stupid, she might just be in for the treat of a lifetime. **

**She waited for Uncle Vernon to say something, but he merely continued to glare.**

**Cris decided to break the silence.**

"Good thinking." Tonks said.

**"So - can I go then?" she asked.**

**A slight spasm crossed Uncle Vernon's large purple face. The mustache bristled. Cris thought she knew what was going on behind the mustache: a furious battle as two of Uncle Vernon's most fundamental instincts came into conflict. Allowing Cris to go would make Cris happy, something Uncle Vernon had struggled against for thirteen years. **

More growling could be heard, Hermione's dog like growl made George and Ginny look at her weird.

**On the other hand, allowing Cris to disappear to the Weasley's for the rest of the summer would get rid of her two weeks earlier than anyone could have hoped, and Uncle Vernon hated having Cris in the house. To give himself thinking time, it seemed, he looked down at Mrs. Weasley's letter again.**

**"Who is this woman?" he said, staring at the signature with distaste.**

**"You've seen her," said Cris. "She's my friend Ron's mother; she was meeting him off the Hog - off the school train at the end of last term."**

**She had almost said "Hogwarts Express," and that was a sure way to get her uncle's temper up. Nobody ever mentioned the name of Cris' school aloud in the Dursley household. **

"Or anything else wizard related." Cris said. Fudge held back the look of surprise, but didn't say anything else; Umbridge on the other hand was thinking that this was all a lie to get the Potter girl more attention.

**Uncle Vernon screwed up his enormous face as though trying to remember something very unpleasant.**

**"Dumpy sort of woman?" he growled finally.**

"I would like to see you give birth to seven children." Mrs. Weasley said with a huff.

"He looks like he has given birth to 20." Gwen said. The room laughed once more, it took about five minutes for them to calm down and let Draco continue reading the chapter.

**"Load of children with red hair?"**

"Yep," the Weasley kids said. The rest of the Order and Cris, and Hermione and the future kids shook their heads fondly.

**Cris frowned. She thought it was a bit rich of Uncle Vernon to call anyone "dumpy," when his own son, Dudley, had finally achieved what he'd been threatening to do since the age of three, and become wider than he was tall.**

"That's disgusting." said a green Robin. Sirius gave her a glass of weak tea which helped bring her coloring back to normal.

**Uncle Vernon was perusing the letter again.**

**"Quidditch," he muttered under his breath. "Quidditch - what is this rubbish?"**

"It's not rubbish!" cried all the Quidditch fans, past present and future.

**Cris felt a second stab of annoyance.**

**"It's a sport," she said shortly. "Played on broom- "**

**"All right, all right!" said Uncle Vernon loudly. Cris saw, with some satisfaction, that his uncle looked vaguely panicky. Apparently his nerves couldn't stand the sound of the word "broomsticks" in his living room. He took refuge in perusing the letter again. Cris saw his lips form the words "send us your answer… in the normal way." He scowled.**

**"What does she mean, 'the normal way'?" he spat.**

"Owl post," all the wizards and witches said.

**"Normal for us," said Cris, and before her uncle could stop her, she added, "you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."**

**Uncle Vernon looked as outraged as if Cris had just uttered a disgusting swearword. Shaking with anger, he shot a nervous look through the window, as though expecting to see some of the neighbors with their ears pressed against the glass.**

**"How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that unnaturalness under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum color. "You stand there, in the clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful back -"**

"Thank god you bought new ones." Hermione said.

"I helped pick them out." Gwen said with a smile. Cris was wearing one of the outfits; a baby blue tee-shirt which was over a black long sleeved shirt and low cut jeans that hugged her legs leaving a strip of black wear it would have showed her back and stomach.

"It is really cute." Lily said smiling at her daughter. Cris blushed her hair turning fusia in her embarrassment.

**"Only after Dudley finished with them," said Cris coldly, and indeed, she was dressed in a sweatshirt so large for her that she had had to roll back the sleeves five times so as to be able to use her hands, and which fell past the knees of her extremely baggy jeans.**

"Thank you for taking her shopping." Lily said.

"It was the same time she got her tattoo, I personally thought she was crazy but she can be stubborn." Gwen said.

"That she can be." Hermione said.

**"I will not be spoken to like that!" said Uncle Vernon, trembling with rage.**

"You don't deserve the respect." Sirius spat.

**But Cris wasn't going to stand for this. Gone were the days when she had been forced to take every single one of the Dursley's stupid rules. She wasn't following Dudley's diet, and she wasn't going to let Uncle Vernon stop her from going to the Quidditch World Cup, not if she could help it. Cris took a deep, steadying breath and then said, "Okay, I can't see the World Cup. Can I go now, then? Only I've got a letter to Sirius I want to finish. You know - my godfather."**

"Good thinking," Remus said with a laugh.

"I can't wait to see his reaction." Sirius said.

**She had done it, she had said the magic words. Now she watched the purple recede blotchily from Uncle Vernon's face, making it look like badly mixed black currant ice cream. **

"I don't think I want that anymore." Ron said. The twins looked at their little brother in shock.

"Ron not wanting,"

"Ice cream anymore,"

"That's just unheard of." They finished together.

**"You're - you're writing to him, are you?" said Uncle Vernon, in a would-be calm voice - but Cris had seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden fear.**

**"Well - yeah," said Cris, casually. "It's been a while since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn't he might start thinking something's wrong."**

"You bet I would be worried." Sirius said.

"I would have loved to have seen their reactions." Robin said.

**She stopped there to enjoy the effect of these words. She could almost see the cogs working under Uncle Vernon's thick, dark, neatly parted hair. If he tried to stop Cris writing to Sirius, Sirius would think Cris was being mistreated. If he told Cris she couldn't go to the Quidditch World Cup, Cris would write and tell Sirius, who would know Cris was being mistreated. There was only one thing for Uncle Vernon to do. Cris could see the conclusion forming in her uncle's mind as though the great mustached face were transparent. Cris tried not to smile, to keep her own face as blank as possible. And then –**

**"Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy… this stupid… this World Cup thing. You write and tell these - these Weasley's they're to pick you up, mind. I haven't got time to go dropping you off all over the country. And you can spend the rest of the summer there. And you can tell your - your godfather… tell him… tell him you're going."**

"I was really happy about that." Sirius said.

"I'll say, you were literally jumping for joy asking, no pleading to go." Robin said.

"You were with him?" Cris asked.

"Someone had to keep an eye on him." Robin said simply.

**"Okay then," said Cris brightly.**

"Well of course, you were getting out of that house." Lily said understanding the reasoning.

"As well as seeing the World Cup." Cris said.

"I bet the game was awesome." Prongs said wistfully.

**She turned and walked toward the living room door, fighting the urge to jump into the air and whoop. She was going… she was going to the Weasley's; she was going to watch the Quidditch World Cup! Outside in the hall she nearly ran into Dudley, who had been lurking behind the door, clearly hoping to overhear Cris being told off. He looked shocked to see the broad grin on Cris' face.**

**"That was an excellent breakfast, wasn't it?" said Cris. "I feel really full, don't you?"**

"Don't push your luck Prongslet." Prongs said.

"I couldn't help it, I was excited." Cris said.

**Laughing at the astonished look on Dudley's face, Cris took the stairs three at a time, and hurled herself back into her bedroom.**

**The first thing she saw was that Hedwig was back. She was sitting in her cage, staring at Cris with her enormous amber eyes, and clicking her beak in the way that meant she was annoyed about something. Exactly what was annoying her became apparent almost at once.**

**"OUCH!" said Cris as what appeared to be a small, gray, feathery tennis ball collided with the side of her head. **

"It's Pig," Ginny said with a smile.

"I'll never understand why you wanted to name him that." Cris said.

"I thought it was cute." Ginny said with a shrug.

**Cris massaged the spot furiously, looking up to see what had hit her, and saw a minute owl, small enough to fit into the palm of her hand, whizzing excitedly around the room like a loose firework. Cris then realized that the owl had dropped a letter at her feet. Cris bent down, recognized Ron's handwriting, then tore open the envelope. Inside was a hastily scribbled note.**

_**Cris - DAD GOT THE TICKETS - Ireland versus Bulgaria, Monday night. Mum's writing to the Muggles to ask you to stay. They might already have the letter; I don't know how fast Muggle post is. Thought I'd send this with Pig anyway.**_

**Cris stared at the word "Pig," then looked up at the tiny owl now zooming around the light fixture on the ceiling. She had never seen anything that looked less like a pig. Maybe she couldn't read Ron's writing**

"You can," Charlie said with a chuckle.

"It's not that bad." Ron said.

"I can barely read your writing, and that's saying something." Bill said.

"I just have a talent for reading bad writing." Cris said with a shrug.

**She went back to the letter:**

_**We're coming for you whether the Muggles like it or not, you can't miss the World Cup, only Mum and Dad reckon it's better if we pretend to ask their permission first. If they say yes, send Pig back with your answer pronto, and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday. If they say no, send Pig back pronto and we'll come and get you at five o'clock on Sunday anyway.**_

"I like that," Tonks said.

"I chuckled at it as well." Cris said.

_**Hermione's arriving this afternoon. Percy's started work - the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Don't mention anything about Abroad while you're here unless you want the pants bored off you. **_

"I wasn't that bad was I?" Percy asked.

"You were pretty intolerable." Bill said.

_**See you soon –**_

_**Ron**_

**"Calm down!" Cris said as the small owl flew low over her head, twittering madly with what Cris could only assume was pride at having delivered the letter to the right person. "Come here, I need you to take my answer back!"**

**The owl fluttered down on top of Hedwig's cage. Hedwig looked coldly up at it, as though daring it to try and come any closer. **

"You have one prideful owl." Tonks said.

"I know, and I love her." Cris said with a smile.

**Cris seized her eagle-feather quill once more, grabbed a fresh piece of parchment, and wrote:**

_**Ron, it's all okay, the Muggles say I can come. See you five o'clock tomorrow. Can't wait.**_

_**Cris**_

**She folded this note up very small, and with immense difficulty, tied it to the tiny owl's leg as it hopped on the spot with excitement. The moment the note was secure, the owl was off again; it zoomed out of the window and out of sight.**

"Is he still that active?" Ron asked his future nieces and nephews.

"No, not nearly as active." Lily J said answering her uncle.

**Cris turned to Hedwig.**

**"Feeling up to a long journey?" she asked her.**

**Hedwig hooted in a dignified sort of a way.**

**"Can you take this to Sirius for me?" she said, picking up her letter. "Hang on… I just want to finish it."**

**She unfolded the parchment and hastily added a postscript.**

_**If you want to contact me, I'll be at my friend Ron Weasley's for the rest of the summer. His dad's got us tickets for the Quidditch World Cup! **_

"I can't wait to read that chapter." Prongs and Padfoot said bouncing in their seats.

**The letter finished, she tied it to Hedwig's leg; she kept unusually still, as though determined to show her how a real post owl should behave.**

**"I'll be at Ron's when you get back, all right?" Cris told her.**

**She nipped her finger affectionately, then, with a soft swooshing noise, spread her enormous wings and soared out of the open window. Cris watched her out of sight, then crawled under her bed, wrenched up the loose floorboard, and pulled out a large chunk of birthday cake. She sat there on the floor eating it, savoring the happiness that was flooding through her. She had cake, and Dudley had nothing but grapefruit; it was a bright summer's day, she would be leaving Privet Drive tomorrow, her scar felt perfectly normal again, and she was going to watch the Quidditch World Cup. It was hard, just now, to feel worried about anything - even Lord Voldemort. **

"I like that attitude." Prongs said.

"That is normal attitude for a teenage girl." Lily said with a smile, she really just want her daughter to have a normal childhood.

"That's the chapter it's your turn Minister." Draco said handing the book to Fudge said.

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy." Fudge said taking the book from the blonde Slytherin and starting the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 4: Back At the Burrow

"**Chapter 4: Back at the Burrow," **Fudge read.

"Yah, you go back." Lily said with a smile.

"Of course, I spend most of my time at the Burrow." Cris said with a smile.

**By twelve o'clock the next day, Cris' school trunk was packed with her school things and all her most prized possessions - the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from her father, the broomstick she had gotten from Sirius, the enchanted map of Hogwarts she had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year. **

"I think I need to confiscate these items." Umbridge said.

"Sadly you can't Dolores, these two items are heirlooms from her father, by that you can't touch them." Dumbledore said. Umbridge looked at Fudge for support but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"He's right; we are not allowed to confiscate family heirlooms." Fudge said as he went back to reading while Umbridge sat fuming.

**She had emptied her hiding place under the loose floorboard of all food, double-checked every nook and cranny of her bedroom for forgotten spell books or quills, and taken down the chart on the wall counting down the days to September the first, on which she liked to cross off the days remaining until her return to Hogwarts.**

"What would happen if you left anything?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, they might burn them." Cris said.

"It's a good thing that you never left anything then." Prongs said.

**The atmosphere inside number four, Privet Drive was extremely tense. **

**The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursley's uptight and irritable. Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Cris informed him that the Weasley's would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day.**

**"****I hope you told them to dress properly, these people," he snarled at once. "I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all." **

"Did you?" Moony asked.

"We did, although it might not have been enough." Mr. Weasley said.

"Don't worry about it Mr. Weasley, Uncle Vernon won't be pleased even if you were rich and had the finest clothes, he would hate you just because you have magic." Cris said.

**Cris felt a slight sense of foreboding. She had rarely seen Mr. or Mrs. Weasley wearing anything that the Dursley's would call "normal." Their children might don Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr. and Mrs. Weasley usually wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness. Cris wasn't bothered about what the neighbors would think, but she was anxious about how rude the Dursley's might be to the Weasley's if they turned up looking like their worst idea of wizards.**

**Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of welcome, but Cris knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating.**

**Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a fully grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, **

The group laughed in remembrance of what happened in the first book but those who weren't there were confused. Lily gave a brief summary and the rest laughed as well.

**and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London. It wasn't altogether surprising; therefore, that Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy.**

"We wouldn't have attacked at all." Charlie said.

**Lunch was an almost silent meal. Dudley didn't even protest at the food (cottage cheese and grated celery). Aunt Petunia wasn't, eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed, and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Cris.**

**"****They'll be driving, of course?" Uncle Vernon barked across the table. **

"No, sense the car is in the forbidden forest." Padfoot said.

"How did you guys get there?" Prongs asked. When nobody answered the two smiled brightly and Fudge continued reading.

**"****Er," said Cris.**

**She hadn't thought of that. How were the Weasley's going to pick her up? **

**They didn't have a car anymore; the old Ford Anglia they had once owned was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. But Mr. Weasley had borrowed a Ministry of Magic car last year; possibly he would do the same today? **

"Nope," the twins said as Cris giggled at the memory.

**"****I think so," said Cris.**

**Uncle Vernon snorted into his mustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr. Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men by how big and expensive their cars were. But Cris doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr. Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari. **

"A very expensive car made in Italy." Hermione said. The purebloods who were interested nodded and Fudge continued once again.

**Cris spent most of the afternoon in her bedroom; she couldn't stand watching Aunt Petunia peer out through the net curtains every few seconds, as though there had been a warning about an escaped rhinoceros. Finally, at a quarter to five, Cris went back downstairs and into the living room.**

**Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and Cris was sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car. Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Cris couldn't take the tension; she left the room and went and sat on the stairs in the hall, her eyes on her watch and her heart pumping fast from excitement and nerves.**

**But five o'clock came and then went. **

"Where are you?" Moony asked.

"We were running late," Mr. Weasley said.

**Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly.**

**"****They're late!" he snarled at Cris.**

**"****I know," said Cris. "Maybe - er - the traffic's bad, or something."**

**Ten past five… then a quarter past five… Cris was starting to feel anxious herself now. At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room.**

**"****No consideration at all."**

**"****We might've had an engagement."**

**"****Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late."**

"We wouldn't want to eat there, Mum is the best cook." Ron said. Mrs. Weasley blushed slightly and Fudge continued reading.

**"****Well, they most certainly won't be," said Uncle Vernon, and Cris heard him stand up and start pacing the living room. "They'll take the girl and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tin-pot car that's broken d- AAAAAAARRRRRGH!"**

"What happened?" Robin asked with a smile.

"They arrived by Floo didn't they?" Remus asked with a smile. Cris nodded with a wide smile on her face.

**Cris jumped up. From the other side of the living room door came the sounds of the three Dursley's scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified.**

**"****What happened?" said Cris. "What's the matter?"**

**But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Cris hurried into the living room. Loud banging's and scrapings were coming from behind the Dursley's boarded-up fireplace, which had a fake coal fire plugged in front of it. **

"I can't believe you tried to Floo," Padfoot said laughing.

**"****What is it?" gasped Aunt Petunia, who had backed into the wall and was staring, terrified, toward the fire. "What is it, Vernon?"**

**But they were left in doubt barely a second longer. Voices could be heard from inside the blocked fireplace.**

"Oh I wish I could have seen my dear sister's face." Lily said with a laugh.

"It was pretty hilarious." Cris said with a smile.

**"****Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake – tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron-"**

"Let me guess, all of you end up there?" Robin asked.

"It was a tight squeeze." Ron said.

"I can imagine." Moony said.

**"****Maybe Cris can hear us, Dad - maybe she'll be able to let us out-"**

**There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire.**

**"****Cris? Cris, can you hear us?"**

**The Dursley's rounded on Cris like a pair of angry wolverines.**

"But they aren't mutants." Gwen said. Causing the future kids, Hermione, Cris and Lily to laugh.

"Wolverine is a super hero, his real name is Logan and he has metal claws that come out of his knuckles, he also has healing powers." Gwen said. The group nodded but they were still confused.

**"****What is this?" growled Uncle Vernon. "What's going on?"**

**"****They - they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Cris, fighting a mad desire to laugh. "They can travel by fire - only you've blocked the fireplace – hang on -" **

"At least you helped." Sirius said with a smile.

"I almost didn't, I was holding back a laugh." Cris said.

**She approached the fireplace and called through the boards.**

**"****Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me?"**

**The hammering stopped. Somebody inside the chimney piece said, "Shh!"**

**"****Mr. Weasley, it's Cris… the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there."**

**"****Damn!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"**

**"****They've got an electric fire," Cris explained.**

**"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that… Let's think… ouch, Ron!"**

The group shook their head fondly at the blushing Mr. Weasley, he will never change.

**Ron's voice now joined the others'.**

**"****What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"**

**"****Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."**

The marauders and Tonks laughed while their kids were chuckling, that was just like dad and papa.

**"****Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as though he was squashed against the wall.**

"I was," George said.

"Dang, it does seem like tight squeeze." Remus said.

**"****Boys, boys…" said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do… Yes… only way… Stand back, Cris."**

"You didn't," Sirius said with a wide grin.

"Yep," Cris said with a giggle.

**Cris retreated to the sofa. Uncle Vernon, however, moved forward.**

**"****Wait a moment!" he bellowed at the fire. "What exactly are you going to -"**

**BANG.**

**The electric fire shot across the room as the boarded-up fireplace burst outward,**

People shook their heads and Fudge read on, disgruntled.

**expelling Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, and Ron in a cloud of rubble and loose chippings. Aunt Petunia shrieked and fell backward over the coffee table; Uncle Vernon caught her before she hit the floor, and gaped, speechless, at the Weasley's, all of whom had bright red hair, including Fred and George, who were identical to the last freckle.**

"Apparently not that identical." Fred said.

"All twins have something different about them." Cris said.

"Frank and Eric are identical but they have something different about them that we can always tell them apart." Lily J said.

"What's that?" Ginny and Neville asked.

"Frank has more red in his hair whereas Eric just has brown hair." James said.

**"****That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah - you must be Cris' aunt and uncle!"**

"Sadly," Cris said.

**Tall, thin, and balding, he moved toward Uncle Vernon, his hand outstretched, but Uncle Vernon backed away several paces, dragging Aunt Petunia. Words utterly failed Uncle Vernon. His best suit was covered in white dust, which had settled in his hair and mustache and made him look as though he had just aged thirty years.**

**"****Er - yes - sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Cris. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking - but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. **

**I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the kids back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate." **

"He doesn't understand you." Lily said.

"I kind forget things like that very easily." Mr. Weasley said. People shook their heads again and Fudge continued.

**Cris was ready to bet that the Dursley's hadn't understood a single word of this. They were still gaping at Mr. Weasley, thunderstruck. Aunt Petunia staggered upright again and hid behind Uncle Vernon. **

"I bet she was horrified at the aspect of cleaning it all up." Lily said.

**"Hello, Cris!" said Mr. Weasley brightly. "Got your trunk ready?"**

**"It's upstairs," said Cris, grinning back.**

**"We'll get it," said Fred at once. Winking at Cris, he and George left the room.**

**They knew where Cris' bedroom was, having once rescued her from it in the dead of night. **

"So that was the sound I heard." Gwen said.

"You heard?" George asked.

"I thought I was dreaming that my friend was being rescued but apparently it wasn't a dream." Gwen said.

"See, I told you the neighbors would think it was a dream." Cris said. The twins chuckled and kissed her head as the group chuckled a bit.

**Cris suspected that Fred and George were hoping for a glimpse of Dudley; they had heard a lot about him from Cris.**

**"Well," said Mr. Weasley, swinging his arms slightly, while he tried to find words to break the very nasty silence. "Very - erm - very nice place you've got here." As the usually spotless living room was now covered in dust and bits of brick, this remark didn't go down too well with the Dursley's. **

"I can imagine that." Padfoot said.

**Uncle Vernon's face purpled once more, and Aunt Petunia started chewing her tongue again. However, they seemed too scared to actually say anything.**

**Mr. Weasley was looking around. He loved everything to do with Muggles. Cris could see him itching to go and examine the television and the video recorder.**

**"They run off eckeltricity, do they?" he said knowledgeably. **

"Electricity," Hermione, Gwen and Lily said.

**"Ah yes, I can see the plugs. I collect plugs," he added to Uncle Vernon. "And batteries. Got a very large collection of batteries. My wife thinks I'm mad, but there you are."**

"And now they think that you are crazy." Robin said.

"Story of my life," Cris muttered.

**Uncle Vernon clearly thought Mr. Weasley was mad too. He moved ever so slightly to the right, screening Aunt Petunia from view, as though he thought Mr. Weasley might suddenly run at them and attack. Dudley suddenly reappeared in the room. Cris could hear the clunk of her trunk on the stairs, and knew that the sounds had scared Dudley out of the kitchen. Dudley edged along the wall, gazing at Mr. Weasley with terrified eyes, and attempted to conceal himself behind his mother and father. Unfortunately, Uncle Vernon's bulk, while sufficient to hide bony Aunt Petunia, was nowhere near enough to conceal Dudley. **

"That's just sick." Charlie said disgusted.

"Didn't you guys say that he lost the weight?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, he lost it by when he was boxing, he looks really good now." Teddy said.

"I can't imagine it." Cris said.

**"Ah, this is your cousin, is it, Cris?" said Mr. Weasley, taking another brave stab at making conversation.**

**"Yep," said Cris, "that's Dudley."**

**She and Ron exchanged glances and then quickly looked away from each other; the temptation to burst out laughing was almost overwhelming. Dudley was still clutching his bottom as though afraid it might fall off. Mr. Weasley, however, seemed genuinely concerned at Dudley's peculiar behavior. Indeed, from the tone of his voice when he next spoke, Cris was quite sure that Mr. Weasley thought Dudley was quite as mad as the Dursley's thought he was, except that Mr. Weasley felt sympathy rather than fear.**

**"Having a good holiday, Dudley?" he said kindly.**

**Dudley whimpered. Cris saw his hands tighten still harder over his massive backside. **

"He definitely wouldn't be in Gryffindor." Sirius said.

"No, he would be in Slytherin." Cris said.

"I can picture that. Though with him being a Muggle he wouldn't get in." Padfoot said.

"Actually now there are Muggleborns in Slytherin." Al said.

"Really?" Draco asked surprised.

"Yeah, the Quidditch Captain when I was in school had a brother that went as well, he was sorted into Slytherin, didn't surprise him any." Keiran said.

"The future sure has changed a lot." Tonks said.

**Fred and George came back into the room carrying Cris' school trunk. They glanced around as they entered and spotted Dudley. Their faces cracked into identical evil grins.**

**"Ah, right," said Mr. Weasley. "Better get cracking then."**

**He pushed up the sleeves of his robes and took out his wand. Cris saw the Dursley's draw back against the wall as one.**

"Arthur would never curse them." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Don't worry about it Mrs. Weasley, they just have a fear of magic." Cris said.

**"Incendio!" said Mr. Weasley, pointing his wand at the hole in the wall behind him.**

**Flames rose at once in the fireplace, crackling merrily as though they had been burning for hours. Mr. Weasley took a small drawstring bag from his pocket, untied it, took a pinch of the powder inside, and threw it onto the flames, which turned emerald green and roared higher than ever.**

**"Off you go then, Fred," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"Coming," said Fred. "Oh no - hang on -"**

**A bag of sweets had spilled out of Fred's pocket and the contents were now rolling in every direction - big, fat toffees in brightly colored wrappers. **

"What's with the toffees?" Padfoot asked. The Weasley boys and Cris had grins on their faces and the pranksters in the room sat forward listening to what the toffees did.

**Fred scrambled around, cramming them back into his pocket, then gave the Dursley's a cheery wave, stepped forward, and walked right into the fire, saying "the Burrow!" Aunt Petunia gave a little shuddering gasp. There was a whooshing sound, and Fred vanished.**

**"Right then, George," said Mr. Weasley, "you and the trunk."**

**Cris helped George carry the trunk forward into the flames and turn it onto its end so that he could hold it better. Then, with a second whoosh, George had cried "the Burrow!" and vanished too.**

**"Ron, you next," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"See you," said Ron brightly to the Dursley's. **

"Why did you say that?" Lily asked.

"To scare them," Ron said with a shrug.

**He grinned broadly at Cris, then stepped into the fire, shouted "the Burrow!" and disappeared. Now Cris and Mr. Weasley alone remained.**

**"Well… 'bye then," Cris said to the Dursley's.**

**They didn't say anything at all. Cris moved toward the fire, but just as she reached the edge of the hearth, Mr. Weasley put out a hand and held her back. He was looking at the Dursley's in amazement.**

**"Cris said good-bye to you," he said. "Didn't you hear her?"**

"They wouldn't care." Lily said darkly.

"I know, I was just surprised, I thought that they might have cared." Mr. Weasley said.

"It's okay, you didn't know until we started these books." Cris said.

**"It doesn't matter," Cris muttered to Mr. Weasley. "Honestly, I don't care."**

**Mr. Weasley did not remove his hand from Cris' shoulder.**

**"You aren't going to see your niece till next summer," he said to Uncle Vernon in mild indignation. "Surely you're going to say good-bye?"**

**Uncle Vernon's face worked furiously. The idea of being taught consideration by a man who had just blasted away half his living room wall seemed to be causing him intense suffering. But Mr. Weasley's wand was still in his hand, and Uncle Vernon's tiny eyes darted to it once, before he said, very resentfully, "Good-bye, then."**

**"See you," said Cris, putting one foot forward into the green flames, which felt pleasantly like warm breath. At that moment, however, a horrible gagging sound erupted behind him, and Aunt Petunia started to scream. Cris wheeled around. Dudley was no longer standing behind his parents. He was kneeling beside the coffee table, and he was gagging and sputtering on a foot-long, purple, slimy thing that was protruding from his mouth. **

"What the bloody hell were those toffees?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Um Ton- Tongue toffees," Fred said.

"Brilliant show of magic." Dumbledore said with a grin. George and Fred shared identical grins at being praised by their headmaster. Mrs. Weasley thought about it, yeah it really was brilliant magic, it made her think what else the twins could do.

**One bewildered second later, Cris realized that the foot-long thing was Dudley's tongue - and that a brightly colored toffee wrapper lay on the floor before him.**

"How did you two do that?" Padfoot asked.

"A mixture of potion's and charms." Fred said.

"And you two only had three OWL's each." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Aunt Petunia hurled herself onto the ground beside Dudley, seized the end of his swollen tongue, and attempted to wrench it out of his mouth; unsurprisingly, Dudley yelled and sputtered worse than ever, trying to fight her off. Uncle Vernon was bellowing and waving his arms around, and Mr. Weasley had to shout to make himself heard.**

**"Not to worry, I can sort him out!" he yelled, advancing on Dudley with his wand outstretched, but Aunt Petunia screamed worse than ever and threw herself on top of Dudley, shielding him from Mr. Weasley.**

"I was only trying to help; they were the ones to make it worse." Mr. Weasley said.

"They are so stupid." Tonks said.

**"No, really!" said Mr. Weasley desperately. "It's a simple process it was the toffee - my son Fred - real practical joker - but it's only an Engorgement Charm - at least, I think it is - **

"That makes it sound so reassuring." Scarlett said.

"I know." Cris said with a grin.

**please, I can correct it -"**

**But far from being reassured, the Dursley's became more panic- stricken; Aunt Petunia was sobbing hysterically, tugging Dudley's tongue as though determined to rip it out; Dudley appeared to be suffocating under the combined pressure of his mother and his tongue; and Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.**

**"Now really!" said Mr. Weasley angrily, brandishing his wand. "I'm trying to help!"**

**Bellowing like a wounded hippo, Uncle Vernon snatched up another ornament.**

**"Cris, go! Just go!" Mr. Weasley shouted, his wand on Uncle Vernon. "I'll sort this out!" **

"I really wanted to stay and watch though." Cris said.

"What made you leave?" James asked his mum.

"You'll find out." Cris said with a grin.

**Cris didn't want to miss the fun, but Uncle Vernon's second ornament narrowly missed her left ear, and on balance she thought it best to leave the situation to Mr. Weasley. **

"Good thinking," Neville said.

**She stepped into the fire, looking over her shoulder as she said "the Burrow!" Her last fleeting glimpse of the living room was of Mr. Weasley blasting a third ornament out of Uncle Vernon's hand with his wand, Aunt Petunia screaming and lying on top of Dudley, and Dudley's tongue lolling around like a great slimy python. But next moment Cris had begun to spin very fast, and the Dursley's living room was whipped out of sight in a rush of emerald-green flames.**

"That's the chapter," Fudge said.

"Before we start the next one, let's get Cris and Ron checked out and if Neville wants to as well then he can come." Remus said.

"Oh yeah," Mrs. Weasley said. Cris, Ron and Neville stood up and followed Remus, Sirius, Robin, Dumbledore and McGonagall into a side room leaving the group to discuss random topics.


	6. Break 1

*In the Reading Room*

Mrs. Weasley was really worried, and didn't like to think that the children she loved had been violated by a traitorous murderer so in order to keep her mind off of things looked over at Keiran who was looking through pictures.

"Keiran can I look through those pictures?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Keiran smiled and walked over and Victoire smiled and made room for her fiancé. The rest of the group that cared came over to look behind Mrs. Weasley to see the pictures.

"This one is Cris' family the younger two are Connor and Ryker." Keiran said.

"Connor looks just like his mother." Hermione said as she smiled at the boy.

"And Ryker looks just like any other Weasley." Bill said. Ryker has the bright red hair, blue eyes and freckles. The only thing that said he was a Potter as well were his almond shaped eyes, and knobby knees and messy hair. Prongs looked at the picture of his two youngest grandsons and he could definitely see himself in Connor as well as James.

Mrs. Weasley passed the picture around and Keiran gave her another one of Bill and his family. Mrs. Weasley gasped at the sight of his scarred face as did Bill.

"What happened to me?" Bill asked wide eyed.

"It doesn't happen until the end of Aunt Cris' sixth year. But the school was attacked by Death Eaters, one of them was Greyback. It wasn't a full moon but he attacked you. You're a lot like Teddy now, enhanced senses and the liking of your meat a little rare." Keiran said.

"You got married a few months after the attack anyway, you tried to talk mum out of it, but she loved you for you and didn't care about your looks." Victoire said.

"You have beautiful kids though bro." Charlie said. Dominque looked just like Bill, long red hair and dark blue eyes but you could definitely see the Veela blood in her. Louis on the other hand has blondish red hair that he kept tied back in a ponytail with bright blue eyes.

"Yeah they are." Bill said smiling at the picture though he really wasn't looking forward to being attacked by Greyback. Mrs. Weasley then passed the picture around and Keiran gave her the next picture. This was Charlie's family.

"Those are my kids?" Charlie asked surprised.

"Yep, Percy, Roxanne, Nicolas and Rebecca; Nicolas and Rebecca are twins." Teddy said. Percy was tall for his age with light brown skin and red brown hair with dark brown eyes. All the kids had various shades of brown skin that they got from their mother. Roxanne was very pretty and had a bright smile and a look of mischief as well as Percy. She had reddish brown hair and a lighter skin then her brother with dark blue eyes. She had her hair down in braids like what Angelina had in the picture; Percy's hair was longer as well barely past his chin. The twins Rebecca and Nicolas had slightly darker skin then their sister reddish brown hair as well, Nick has brown eyes were as Becca has blue eyes.

"They are beautiful," Mrs. Weasley said with a wide smile as she passed the photo around. Keiran handed her an updated photo of Ron and Hermione, they could tell that Hermione was pregnant as well and Rose and Hugo were older.

"Wow," Hermione said.

"Rose, looks just like you but with red hair and blue eyes and Hugo looks like Ron but with brown hair and brown eyes." Ginny said with a smile.

"It makes me wonder what we're having. And what they will look like." Hermione said. Mrs. Weasley passed it around and Keiran gave them the next photo of Ginny and Neville with their kids.

"Wow," Mrs. Weasley and Ginny said.

"That's Alice, Frank and Eric." Teddy said. Ginny smiled at the photo, Alice looked just like Ginny with the long red hair but with Neville's blue eyes and the Weasley freckles. Frank and Eric looked just like Neville with Ginny's brown eyes. And the little differences that Lily J said were there, Frank did have a tinge of red hair where Eric did not.

"They sure are beautiful sis," Charlie said though he was still peeved that Neville got his little sister pregnant.

"They are," Ginny said with a smile as Mrs. Weasley passed the picture around.

"I have three more of Draco's kids, Gwen's kids and Dudley's kids." Keiran said.

"I want to see my kids." Gwen said. Keiran gave her the picture and she smiled.

"Man, they are beautiful," Gwen said. Aleksandar looked just like his father with dark hair but with Gwen's green eyes, Anastasiya looked just like Gwen but with Viktor's dark brown eyes. Nikolai looked just like his mom with blonde hair and green eyes.

"You and Viktor look really good together." Hermione said.

"We do, don't we?" Gwen asked with a smile. She passed the picture around as well and they all agreed. Keiran handed Luna and Draco another picture of their family.

"Wow," Draco said as he looked at the three kids.

"They are gorgeous, aren't they?" Luna asked with her dreamy smile.

"That's Scorpius, Lysander and Falon." Al said pointing at the three kids. Scorpius looked just like his dad, Lysander just like his mom and Falon like a combination of the both of them with her dad's hair and her mom's eyes.

"Who wants to see Dudley and Hannah's kids?" Teddy asked. Mrs. Weasley took the picture and smiled.

"He did lose weight, and his kids look just like their mom." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Thank god for that." Ginny whispered to Hermione who giggled a bit.

"That's Erika, Vincent and Grace, they look like their mom but they have Dudley's eyes." Keiran said. The group smiled and the door opened and out walked the other group.

*In the Room*

Cris, Ron and Neville sat on the chairs waiting and Cris was nervously tapping her foot.

"I'm sure that everything is okay Cris, you would know right?" Ron asked.

"Not necessarily, Pettigrew could have erased it from my memory or done something else as well." Cris said. She looked over to the adults who were discussing how they were going to do this.

"Professor McGonagall, is there a way to just tell if we had ever been raped?" Cris asked. The group looked over and they turned to Robin.

"Well yeah there is a way to see if sex was forced on either of you." Robin said.

"Can you do that?" Neville asked.

"Would you like us to do that?" Remus asked. The three nodded their heads and Robin sighed and walked over to cast the spell on the three of them. Cris didn't realize she was holding her breath as the spell was complete.

"Well it doesn't seem like it, thank god for that." Robin said. Cris let out a sigh of relief, and hugged Sirius who came over to her.

"Thank god, otherwise I would have to murder the bastard." Sirius said.

"I believe that it is almost time for lunch and to continue the book." Dumbledore said. They nodded and walked back out and noticed that the group besides Snape, Moody, Fudge and Umbridge were gathered around Mrs. Weasley as they looked at pictures. When they looked up they saw them and stopped what they were doing.

"Pettigrew didn't do anything did he?" Tonks asked.

"No, thank god but I believe it is time for lunch." Sirius said.

"You're right, why don't I get started and Miss Umbridge can start the next chapter." Mrs. Weasley said as she started towards the kitchen.

"Can you hear from there?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, don't worry, just get started." Mrs. Weasley said. Umbridge picked up the book with an _hem-hem _and started the chapter.


	7. Chapter 5: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

"**Chapter 5: Weasley Wizard Wheezes," **Umbridge read.

"What's that?" Gwen asked.

"A joke shop, it's way better than Zonko's." James said.

"I'll be the judge of that." Prongs and Padfoot said.

**Cris spun faster and faster, elbows tucked tightly to her sides, blurred fireplaces flashing past her, until she started to feel sick and closed her eyes. Then, when at last she felt himself slowing down, she threw out her hands and came to a halt in time to prevent herself from falling face forward out of the Weasley's kitchen fire.**

**"Did he eat it?" said Fred excitedly, holding out a hand to pull Cris to her feet.**

**"****Yeah," said Cris, straightening up. "What was it?"**

**"****Ton-Tongue Toffee," said Fred brightly. "George and I invented them,**

"That's awesome." Padfoot said with a big smile.

"That's just the start of it." George said.

"Sweet," Prongs said with a smile.

**and we've been looking for someone to test them on all summer…"**

"Why not test them on someone else rather than Cris' bullying cousin?" Moony asked.

"Because our dear siblings,"

"Know us too well,"

"They wouldn't take whatever,"

"We give them."

"Of course not, we're too smart for that." Ginny said with a smile. The twins pouted and Cris kissed them.

**The tiny kitchen exploded with laughter; Cris looked around and saw that Ron and George were sitting at the scrubbed wooden table with two red-haired people Cris had never seen before, though she knew immediately who they must be: Bill and Charlie, the two eldest Weasley brothers. **

"Yah!" cheered Bill and Charlie. Victoire smiled at the younger version of her dad and uncle, they were almost as bad as Uncle Fred and Uncle George.

**"****How're you doing, Cris?" said the nearer of the two, grinning at her and holding out a large hand, which Cris shook, feeling calluses and blisters under her fingers. This had to be Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania. Charlie was built like the twins, shorter and stockier than Percy and Ron, who were both long and lanky. He had a broad, good-natured face, which was weather-beaten and so freckly that he looked almost tanned; his arms were muscular, and one of them had a large, shiny burn on it.**

"That's a good description." Charlie said.

"Lucky you," Hermione and Ron said.

**Bill got to his feet, smiling, and also shook Cris' hand. Bill came as something of a surprise. Cris knew that he worked for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, and that Bill had been Head Boy at Hogwarts; Cris had always imagined Bill to be an older version of Percy: fussy about rule-breaking and fond of bossing everyone around. **

"Oi," Bill cried.

"Sorry, I just thought that you would be like Percy." Cris said sheepishly.

"It's alright; you were working with what you were told." Bill said.

**However, Bill was - there was no other word for it - cool.**

"Thanks," Bill said going pink.

"You're welcome." Cris said.

**He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it.**

"I still can't believe that you did that." Mrs. Weasley said.

"They're grown up Molly, you can't exactly stop them." Mr. Weasley said.

**Bill's clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Cris recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide.**

"They don't kill the dragons do they?" Gwen asked.

"No, they only use the hide of dragons that have died, that's why it's so expensive." Charlie said.

"Thank god," Gwen said.

**Before any of them could say anything else, there was a faint popping noise, and Mr. Weasley appeared out of thin air at George's shoulder. He was looking angrier than Cris had ever seen him.**

"Uh-oh, that's not good." Lily said.

"It takes a lot to anger Arthur." Sirius said.

**"****That wasn't funny Fred!" he shouted. "What on earth did you give that Muggle boy?"**

**"****I didn't give him anything," said Fred, with another evil grin. "I just dropped it… It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to."**

"Fred," Sirius said shaking his head in amusement.

**"****You dropped it on purpose!" roared Mr. Weasley. "You knew he'd eat it, you knew he was on a diet -"**

**"****How big did his tongue get?" George asked eagerly.**

"That was some pretty great magic but you really need to think before you give it to someone like Cris' Muggle cousin." Mr. Weasley said. The twins nodded they had planned to open the shop at the end of the school year, that is if they make to the end.

**"****It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!"**

The pranksters let out a laugh and Umbridge let out a _hem-hem_, before she continued reading once again.

**Cris and the Weasley's roared with laughter again.**

**"****It isn't funny!" Mr. Weasley shouted. "That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-Muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of Muggles, and my own sons." **

"Well he does have a point." Remus said.

"But they didn't do it because he's a Muggle; they did it because he was a bullying git." Sirius said.

"I know that." Remus said.

**"****We didn't give it to him because he's a Muggle!" said Fred indignantly.**

**"No, we gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," said George. "Isn't he, Cris?"**

"I'm sorry, I should have believed them." Mr. Weasley said.

"Don't worry about it; I'm not going back there so no need to worry about it." Cris said.

**"****Yeah, he is, Mr. Weasley," said Cris earnestly.**

**"****That's not the point!" raged Mr. Weasley. "You wait until I tell your mother -"**

**"****Tell me what?" said a voice behind them. **

"Speak of the devil and they shall appear." Gwen said.

"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"It's just a saying; if you talk about someone who isn't there they will show up." Gwen said.

"Oh, I guess that it makes sense." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Mrs. Weasley had just entered the kitchen. She was a short, plump woman with a very kind face, though her eyes were presently narrowed with suspicion.**

**"****Oh hello, Cris, dear," she said, spotting her and smiling. Then her eyes snapped back to her husband. "Tell me what, Arthur?"**

**Mr. Weasley hesitated. Cris could tell that, however angry he was with Fred and George, he hadn't really intended to tell Mrs. Weasley what had happened. **

Mr. Weasley blushed and Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes at her husband and he smiled sheepishly at her. Mrs. Weasley just smiled at him and Umbridge continued reading.

**There was a silence, while Mr. Weasley eyed his wife nervously. Then two girls appeared in the kitchen doorway behind Mrs. Weasley. One, with very bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth,**

Hermione glared over at Cris and threw a pillow at her and she caught it and threw it back.

**was Cris' and Ron's friend, Hermione Granger. The other, who was small and red-haired, was Ron's younger sister, Ginny. **

"Her description is better," Hermione said.

"Sorry, I didn't write this thought." Cris said.

**Both of them smiled at Cris, who grinned back, which made Ginny go scarlet - she had been very fond of Cris ever since her first visit to the Burrow.**

**"****Tell me what, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley repeated, in a dangerous sort of voice.**

**"It's nothing, Molly," mumbled Mr. Weasley, "Fred and George just - but I've had words with them -"**

**"****What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley. "If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes -"**

"It sounds like fun." Prongs said.

"Apparently it's successful as well." Padfoot said remembering what the kids said who were from the future.

**"****Why don't you show Cris where she's sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione from the doorway.**

**"****She knows where she's sleeping," said Ron, "in my room, she slept there last -"**

**"****We can all go," said Hermione pointedly.**

**"****Oh," said Ron, cottoning on. "Right."**

**"****Yeah, we'll come too," said George.**

**"****You stay where you are!" snarled Mrs. Weasley. **

"Nice try though." Robin said.

"It was worth a shot." George said with a shrug.

**Cris and Ron edged out of the kitchen, and they, Hermione, and Ginny set off along the narrow hallway and up the rickety staircase that zigzagged through the house to the upper stories.**

**"****What are Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Cris asked as they climbed.**

**Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione didn't.**

"Why not?" the twins asked.

"I wasn't exactly fond of the whole idea, but apparently it works so full steam ahead." Hermione said.

**"****Mum found this stack of order forms when she was cleaning Fred and George's room," said Ron quietly. "Great long price lists for stuff they've invented. Joke stuff, you know. Fake wands and trick sweets, loads of stuff. It was brilliant, I never knew they'd bee****n inventing all that…" **

"Damn, they really are taking this a step further than pranking." Moony said.

"They sure are." Prongs said.

**"****We've been hearing explosions out of their room for ages, but we never thought they were actually making things," said Ginny. "We thought they just liked the noise."**

"We do, but they were actually for something." Fred said.

"We know," their brothers and sister said.

**"****Only, most of the stuff - well, all of it, really - was a bit dangerous,"**

"That's because we hadn't worked out the kinks yet." George said.

"And you have now?" Remus asked.

"Yep," Fred said.

**said Ron, "and, you know, they were planning to sell it at Hogwarts to make some money, and Mum went mad at them. Told them they weren't allowed to make any more of it, and burned all the order forms… She's furious at them anyway. They didn't get as many O.W.L.s as she expected."**

"Well of course, I want all my kids to get enough to get decent jobs." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Well it seems their business is successful." Mr. Weasley said.

**O.W.L.s were Ordinary Wizarding Levels, the examinations Hogwarts students took at the age of fifteen.**

"Or sixteen," Scarlett and Bill said.

"Sorry, fifth year." Cris said with a smirk.

**"And then there was this big row," Ginny said, "because Mum wants them to go into the Ministry of Magic like Dad, and they told her all they want to do is open a joke shop."**

"Well it is successful, grandma." Al said.

"At least they are," Mrs. Weasley said.

**Just then a door on the second landing opened, and a face poked out wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a very annoyed expression.**

Percy blushed bright red as his brothers and sister snickered.

**"****Hi, Percy," said Cris.**

**"****Oh hello, Cristal," said Percy. "I was wondering who was making all the noise. I'm trying to work in here, you know I've got a report to finish for the office – and it's rather difficult to concentrate when people keep thundering up and down the stairs." Cris had given up on trying to get him to call her Cris so she let it slide.**

"So that's why you stopped." Ron said.

"It was kind of obvious Ron, he's been calling her Cristal since first year." Hermione said.

"And we weren't even thundering." Ginny said looking peeved at her older brother.

**"****We're not thundering, "said Ron irritably. "We're walking. Sorry if we've disturbed the top-secret workings of the Ministry of Magic."**

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "There's no need to be rude."

**"What are you working on?" said Cris.**

**"A report for the Department of International Magical Cooperation," said Percy smugly. "We're trying to standardize cauldron thickness. Some of these foreign imports are just a shade too thin - leakages have been increasing at a rate of almost three percent a year -"**

"I can't believe you're saying this to three fourth years and a third year, they won't understand any of this." Lily said.

**"****That'll change the world, that report will," said Ron. "Front page of the Daily Prophet, I expect, cauldron leaks."**

**Percy went slightly pink.**

**"****You might sneer, Ron," he said heatedly, "but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow bottomed products that seriously endanger -"**

"Well yeah, that could happen." Moony said blushing slightly.

"Do we really want to know?" Cris asked.

"No, not really." Moony said.

**"****Yeah, yeah, all right," said Ron, and he started off upstairs again. Percy slammed his bedroom door shut. As Cris, Hermione, and Ginny followed Ron up three more flights of stairs, shouts from the kitchen below echoed up to them. It sounded as though Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Weasley about the toffees. **

"He did," the twins said. Cris smiled and ruffled their hair.

**The room at the top of the house where Ron slept looked much as it had the last time that Cris had come to stay: the same posters of Ron's favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, were whirling and waving on the walls and sloping ceiling, and the fish tank on the windowsill, which had previously held frog spawn, now contained one extremely large frog. Ron's old rat, Scabbers, was here no more, **

"Thank god for that." Sirius said.

**but instead there was the tiny gray owl that had delivered Ron's letter to Cris in Privet Drive. It was hopping up and down in a small cage and twittering madly.**

**"****Shut up, Pig," said Ron, edging his way between two of the four beds that had been squeezed into the room. "Fred and George are in here with us, because Bill and Charlie are in their room," he told Cris. "Percy gets to keep his room all to himself because he's got to work."**

**"****Er - why are you calling that owl Pig?" Cris asked Ron.**

**"****Because he's being stupid," said Ginny, "Its proper name is Pigwidgeon."**

"How did you pick out that name anyway?" Robin asked.

"I thought it was cute." Ginny said.

**"****Yeah, and that's not a stupid name at all," said Ron sarcastically. "Ginny named him," he explained to Cris. "She reckons it's sweet. And I tried to change it, but it was too late, he won't answer to anything else. So now he's Pig. I've got to keep him up here because he annoys Errol and Hermes. He annoys me too, come to that." **

"He's not hyperactive anymore Uncle Ron." Victoire said.

"Thank god for that." Ron said.

**Pigwidgeon zoomed happily around his cage, hooting shrilly. Cris knew Ron too well to take him seriously. He had moaned continually about his old rat, Scabbers, but had been most upset when Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, appeared to have eaten him.**

Ron blushed brightly and Cris smiled at him.

**"****Where's Crookshanks?" Cris asked Hermione now.**

**"****Out in the garden, I expect," she said. "He likes chasing gnomes. He's never seen any before."**

**"****Percy's enjoying work, then?" said Cris, sitting down on one of the beds and watching the Chudley Cannons zooming in and out of the posters on the ceiling.**

**"****Enjoying it?" said Ron darkly. "I don't reckon he'd come home if Dad didn't make him. He's obsessed. Just don't get him onto the subject of his boss. According to Mr. Crouch… as I was saying to Mr. Crouch… Mr. Crouch is of the opinion… Mr. Crouch was telling me… They'll be announcing their engagement any day now."**

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed yet again.

"Sorry, he was just talking about him a lot." Ron said.

"No kidding," the rest of the Weasley kids said.

**"****Have you had a good summer, Cris?" said Hermione. "Did you get our food parcels and everything?"**

**"****Yeah, thanks a lot," said Cris. "They saved my life, those cakes."**

**"****And have you heard from -?" Ron began, but at a look from Hermione he fell silent. **

"What why?" Tonks asked.

"Because Ginny didn't know the truth yet and she was in there with us." Cris said.

"Oh yeah," Tonks said.

**Cris knew Ron had been about to ask about Sirius. Ron and Hermione had been so deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they were almost as concerned about Cris' godfather as she was. **

**However, discussing him in front of Ginny was a bad idea. Nobody but themselves and Professor Dumbledore knew about how Sirius had escaped, or believed in his innocence.**

"I would've believed if you told me." Ginny said.

"Sorry, we were just concerned and we didn't want to get him caught again." Cris said.

"I understand that." Ginny said with a reassuring smile.

**"****I think they've stopped arguing," said Hermione, to cover the awkward moment, because Ginny was looking curiously from Ron to Cris. "Shall we go down and help your mum with dinner?"**

**"****Yeah, all right," said Ron. The four of them left Ron's room and went back downstairs to find Mrs. Weasley alone in the kitchen, looking extremely bad-tempered.**

**"****We're eating out in the garden," she said when they came in. "There's just not room for eleven people in here. Could you take the plates outside, Ginny, Hermione? Bill and Charlie are setting up the tables. Knives and forks, please, you two," she said to Ron and Cris, pointing her wand a little more vigorously than she had intended at a pile of potatoes in the sink, which shot out of their skins so fast that they ricocheted off the walls and ceiling.**

"That sounds wild," Tonks said with a laugh. The kids were laughing as well and Mrs. Weasley burned red again.

**"****Oh for heaven's sake," she snapped, now directing her wand at a dustpan, which hopped off the sideboard and started skating across the floor, scooping up the potatoes. "Those two!" she burst out savagely, now pulling pots and pans out of a cupboard, and Cris knew she meant Fred and George. "I don't know what's going to happen to them, I really don't. No ambition, unless you count making as much trouble as they possibly can…"**

"Hey," cried their kids.

"Sorry, I was just worried about them, any mother would be." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Mrs. Weasley slammed a large copper saucepan down on the kitchen table and began to wave her wand around inside it. A creamy sauce poured from the wand tip as she stirred.**

"Mmm, I'm getting hungry." Ron said.

"We just ate lunch." Hermione said slapping him upside the head.

**"****It's not as though they haven't got brains," she continued irritably, taking the saucepan over to the stove and lighting it with a further poke of her wand, "but they're wasting them, and unless they pull themselves together soon, they'll be in real trouble. I've had more owls from Hogwarts about them than the rest put together.**

"They were a bit wilder than us." Bill said to Charlie.

"No kidding," Charlie said.

**If they carry on the way they're going, they'll end up in front of the Improper Use of Magic Office."**

**Mrs. Weasley jabbed her wand at the cutlery drawer, which shot open. Cris and Ron both jumped out of the way as several knives soared out of it, flew across the kitchen, and began chopping the potatoes, which had just been tipped back into the sink by the dustpan.**

"**I don't know where we went wrong with them," said Mrs. Weasley, putting down her wand and starting to pull out still more saucepans. "It's been the same for years, one thing after another, and they won't listen to - OH NOT AGAIN!" **

The twins were looking more and more upset about this and Mrs. Weasley looked down tears threatening to fall. Al stood up and went over to hug his grandma who hugged him back.

"It's okay Grandma, you were worried that they wouldn't do anything with their lives. Dad and Papa are very successful and you are very proud of them in the future." Al said.

"Really?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Really," James, Lily J and Al said.

**She had **picked** up her wand from the table, and it had emitted a loud squeak and turned into a giant rubber mouse. **

"Sorry," the twins said.

**"One of their fake wands again!"**

"Now that is really impressive," Prongs said.

**she shouted. "How many times have I told them not to leave them lying around?"**

**She grabbed her real wand and turned around to find that the sauce on the stove was smoking.**

**"****C'mon," Ron said hurriedly to Cris, seizing a handful of cutlery from the open drawer, "let's go and help Bill and Charlie."**

**They left Mrs. Weasley and headed out the back door into the yard.**

**They had only gone a few paces when Hermione's bandy-legged ginger cat, Crookshanks, came pelting out of the garden, bottle-brush tail held high in the air, chasing what looked like a muddy potato on legs. Cris recognized it instantly as a gnome. Barely ten inches high, its horny little feet pattered very fast as it sprinted across the yard and dived headlong into one of the Wellington boots that lay scattered around the door. Cris could hear the gnome giggling madly as Crookshanks inserted a paw into the boot, trying to reach it. Meanwhile, a very loud crashing noise was coming from the other side of the house. The source of the commotion was revealed as they entered the garden, and saw that Bill and Charlie both had their wands out, and were making two battered old tables fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, **

"William, Charles!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

"We fixed them afterward." Bill said.

"And besides, it's not all that dangerous, just fun." Charlie said. Mrs. Weasley shook her head at her sons and Umbridge kept reading.

**each attempting to knock the other's out of the air. Fred and George were cheering, Ginny was laughing, and Hermione was hovering near the hedge, apparently torn between amusement and anxiety. Bill's table caught Charlie's with a huge bang and knocked one of its legs off. There was a clatter from overhead, and they all looked up to see Percy's head poking out of a window on the second floor.**

**"Will you keep it down?" he bellowed. **

"Relax man, they are just having fun." Prongs said.

"Don't bother dad, he doesn't know what fun is." Cris said.

**"Sorry, Perce," said Bill, grinning. "How're the cauldron bottoms coming on?"**

The pranksters groaned and Umbridge continued reading.

**"Very badly," said Percy peevishly, and he slammed the window shut. Chuckling, Bill and Charlie directed the tables safely onto the grass, end to end, and then, with a flick of his wand, Bill reattached the table leg and conjured tablecloths from nowhere.**

**By seven o'clock, the two tables were groaning under dishes and dishes of Mrs. Weasley's excellent cooking, and the nine Weasley's, Cris, and Hermione were settling themselves down to eat beneath a clear, deep-blue sky. To somebody who had been living on meals of increasingly stale cake all summer, this was paradise, and at first, Cris listened rather than talked as she helped herself to chicken and ham pie, boiled potatoes, and salad. **

"Torture, this is pure torture." Sirius said. Robin handed him one of the sandwiches.

"Eat that." Robin said. Sirius grinned and took the sandwich.

**At the far end of the table, Percy was telling his father all about his report on cauldron bottoms.**

**"I've told Mr. Crouch that I'll have it ready by Tuesday," Percy was saying pompously. "That's a bit sooner than he expected it, but I like to keep on top of things. I think he'll be grateful I've done it in good time, I mean, its extremely busy in our department just now, what with all the arrangements for the World Cup. We're just not getting the support we need from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Ludo Bagman -"**

"The beater from the Wasps?" Padfoot asked.

"The one and the same." Charlie said.

**"I like Ludo," said Mr. Weasley mildly. "He was the one who got us such good tickets for the Cup.**

"Sweetness," Sirius said.

**I did him a bit of a favor: His brother, Otto, got into a spot of trouble - a lawnmower with unnatural powers - I smoothed the whole thing over."**

**"Oh Bagman's likable enough, of course," said Percy dismissively, "but how he ever got to be Head of Department… when I compare him to Mr. Crouch! I can't see Mr. Crouch losing a member of our department and not trying to find out what's happened to them. You realize Bertha Jorkins has been missing for over a month now? **

"That's the girl that Voldemort killed at the beginning of the chapter." Bill said.

"Yeah," Cris said.

**Went on holiday to Albania and never came back?"**

**"Yes, I was asking Ludo about that," said Mr. Weasley, frowning. "He says Bertha's gotten lost plenty of times before now - though must say, if it was someone in my department, I'd be worried…"**

**"Oh Bertha's hopeless, all right," said Percy. "I hear she's been shunted from department to department for years, much more trouble than she's worth… but all the same, Bagman ought to be trying to find her. Mr. Crouch has been taking a personal interest, she worked in our department at one time, you know, and I think Mr. Crouch was quite fond of her - but Bagman just keeps laughing and saying she probably misread the map and ended up in Australia instead of Albania. However" - Percy heaved an impressive sigh and took a deep swig of elderflower wine - "we've got quite enough on our plates at the Department of International Magical Cooperation without trying to find members of other departments too. As you know, we've got another big event to organize right after the World Cup." **

"Percy, did you really have to say that knowing that Cris is extremely nosy?" Lily asked.

"I didn't realize how nosy they could be until these books." Percy said.

**Percy cleared his throat significantly and looked down toward the end of the table where Cris, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. "You know the one I'm talking about, Father." He raised his voice slightly. "The top-secret one."**

"That's just plain stupid, now they are all interested in it." Robin said rubbing her temples.

**Ron rolled his eyes and muttered to Cris and Hermione, "He's been trying to get us to ask what that event is ever since he started work. Probably an exhibition of thick-bottomed cauldrons."**

**In the middle of the table, Mrs. Weasley was arguing with Bill about his earring, which seemed to be a recent acquisition.**

**"… with a horrible great fang on it. Really, Bill, what do they say at the bank?"**

"I doubt they give a damn." Sirius said.

"They don't." Bill said.

**"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure," said Bill patiently.**

"Goblins sure are very simple minded creatures then." Gwen said.

"Far from it actually." Bill said.

"They aren't very nice to mum, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron." James said.

"What did you three do?" Sirius asked eyeing the trio.

"I don't know," Cris said.

"We haven't done it yet." Hermione said.

**"And your hair's getting silly, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, fingering her wand lovingly." I wish you'd let me give it a trim…"**

"No!" Bill said.

"Grandma still tries and mum always tries to cute Louis' hair as well, he is just like you dad." Victoire said. Bill smiled and Mrs. Weasley shook her head.

**"I like it," said Ginny, who was sitting beside Bill. "You're so old-fashioned, Mum. Anyway, it's nowhere near as long as Professor Dumbledore's…" **

"That is certainly very true." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

**Next to Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, and Charlie were all talking spiritedly about the World Cup.**

**"It's got to be Ireland," said Charlie thickly, through a mouthful of potato. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."**

**"Bulgaria has got Viktor Krum, though," said Fred.**

**"Krum's one decent player, Ireland has got seven," said Charlie shortly. "I wish England had got through. That was embarrassing, that was."**

"What happened?" asked Prongs and Padfoot.

**"What happened?" said Cris eagerly, regretting more than ever her isolation from the wizarding world when she was stuck on Privet Drive.**

"So do we all," Lily said.

**"Went down to Transylvania, three hundred and ninety to ten," said Charlie gloomily.**

"What the hell? Did they even show up?" Prongs asked.

"Yeah," Charlie said wincing.

"I hope they get better," Padfoot said.

"They are, but they didn't play in any of the cups as of yet." Keiran said.

**"Shocking performance. And Wales lost to Uganda, and Scotland was slaughtered by Luxembourg."**

**Cris had been on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team ever since her first year at Hogwarts and owned one of the best racing brooms in the world, a Firebolt. Flying came more naturally to Cris than anything else in the magical world, and she played in the position of Seeker on the Gryffindor House team.**

"You are very talented at it, I'm surprised that you didn't get recruited." Sirius said.

"They tried but mum wanted to be an Auror." James said.

"I like playing Quidditch but I don't want it to be a job, it's more fun as a hobby." Cris said.

"I can see your reasoning, that's why I chose to be a dragon tamer." Charlie said.

**Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their homemade strawberry ice cream, and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle. Cris was feeling extremely well fed and at peace with the world as she watched several gnomes sprinting through the rosebushes, laughing madly and closely pursued by Crookshanks.**

Hermione shook her head at her cat.

**Ron looked carefully up the table to check that the rest of the family were all busy talking, then he said very quietly to Cris, "So - have you heard from Sirius lately?"**

**Hermione looked around, listening closely.**

**"Yeah," said Cris softly, "twice. He sounds okay. I wrote to him yesterday. He might write back while I'm here."**

**She suddenly remembered the reason she had written to Sirius, and for a moment was on the verge of telling Ron and Hermione about her scar hurting again, and about the dream that had awoken her… but she really didn't want to worry them just now, not when she herself was feeling so happy and peaceful.**

"You should have told us," Hermione said.

"Sorry, I was just content at the time being." Cris said.

"I can understand that." Ron said.

**"Look at the time," Mrs. Weasley said suddenly, checking her wristwatch. "You really should be in bed, the whole lot of you you'll be up at the crack of dawn to get to the Cup. Cris, if you leave your school list out, I'll get your things for you tomorrow in Diagon Alley. I'm getting everyone else's. There might not be time after the World Cup; the match went on for five days last time."**

"How long did it last?" Padfoot asked.

"Read and find out." Cris said.

"You're no fun." Padfoot said crossing his arms.

**"Wow - hope it does this time!" said Cris enthusiastically.**

**"Well, I certainly don't," said Percy sanctimoniously. "I shudder to think what the state of my in-tray would be if I was away from work for five days."**

"You really need to lighten up Perce." Bill said.

**"Yeah, someone might slip dragon dung in it again, eh, Perce?" said Fred.**

**"That was a sample of fertilizer from Norway!" said Percy, going very red in the face. "It was nothing personal!"**

**"It was," Fred whispered to Cris as they got up from the table. "We sent it."**

Percy turned to glare at the twins and Cris sent one of her glares back at him.

"That's the chapter," Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice. She handed the book to Dumbledore who started the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 6: The Portkey

"**Chapter 6: The Portkey," **Dumbledore said.

"Your first Portkey trip." Prongs said.

"And definitely not the last." Cris said.

**Cris felt as though she had barely lain down to sleep in Ron's room when she was being shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley. **

"How early was it?" Lily asked.

"Too early," the twins, Ron, Cris, Ginny and Hermione said.

"**Time to go, Cris, dear," she whispered, moving away to wake Ron.**

**Cris felt around for her glasses, put them on, and sat up. It was still dark outside. Ron muttered indistinctly as his mother roused him. At the foot of Cris' mattress she saw two large, disheveled shapes emerging from tangles of blankets.**

"Mischief and Trouble." Cris said kissing their cheeks.

"Maybe I should have put her in with the girls." Mrs. Weasley whispered.

"She was fine Molly." Mr. Weasley said.

**"'****S' time already?" said Fred groggily.**

**They dressed in silence, too sleepy to talk, then, yawning and stretching, the four of them headed downstairs into the kitchen.**

**Mrs. Weasley was stirring the contents of a large pot on the stove, while Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, checking a sheaf of large parchment tickets. He looked up as the kids entered and spread his arms so that they could see his clothes more clearly. He was wearing what appeared to be a golfing sweater and a very old pair of jeans, slightly too big for him and held up with a thick leather belt.**

"That's very good for a pureblood." Lily said. Mr. Weasley smiled and Dumbledore continued reading.

**"****What d'you think?" he asked anxiously. "We're supposed to go incognito - do I look like a Muggle, Cris?"**

**"****Yeah," said Cris, smiling, "very good."**

**"****Where're Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George, failing to stifle a huge yawn. **

"I wasn't used to getting up that early." George said.

"Nobody is." Sirius said.

**"****Well, they're Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley, heaving the large pot over to the table and starting to ladle porridge into bowls. "So they can have a bit of a lie-in."**

"Lucky them," the kids said.

**Cris knew that Apparating meant disappearing from one place and reappearing almost instantly in another, but had never known any Hogwarts student to do it, and understood that it was very difficult.**

"It is at first." Bill said.

"I already took my test." Victoire said.

"When's your birthday?" Bill asked.

"May 2, 2000; I was born on the anniversary of the final battle that's why my name means Victory." Victoire said.

**"****So they're still in bed?" said Fred grumpily, pulling his bowl of porridge toward him. "Why can't we Apparate too?"**

**"****Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "And where have those girls got to?"**

**She bustled out of the kitchen and they heard her climbing the stairs.**

**"****You have to pass a test to Apparate?" Cris asked.**

"Yes," the group said.

"I know that now." Cris said.

**"****Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, tucking the tickets safely into the back pocket of his jeans. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done property it can lead to nasty complications. This pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."**

"Splinched?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, it is exactly what you think, Gwen." Cris said.

"Sounds painful." Gwen said.

**Everyone around the table except Cris winced.**

**"****Er - splinched?" said Cris.**

**"****They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley,**

"They don't die do they?" Gwen asked.

"No, we can get them back together." Mr. Weasley said.

"Good," Gwen said with a sigh of relief.

**now spooning large amounts of treacle onto his porridge. "So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind…"**

**Cris had a sudden vision of a pair of legs and an eyeball lying abandoned on the pavement of Privet Drive.**

"That would be a sight to see." Gwen said with wide eyes.

"I can just see it now." Cris said. People shook their heads and Dumbledore continued reading.

**"****Were they okay?" she asked, startled.**

**"****Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley matter-of-factly. "But they got a heavy fine, and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms - slower, but safer." **

"True," Sirius said.

**"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"**

**"****Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, grinning.**

Charlie blushed and Sirius had a smile on his face.

**"He failed the first time. Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"**

The marauders started to laugh and Charlie blushed brightly.

**"****Yes, well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley, marching back into the kitchen amid hearty sniggers.**

**"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can."**

"So that's where you got that from." Sirius said.

"Well he was annoying us, and we wanted to annoy him." George said.

"Problem was that he wasn't there with us." Fred said.

**There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy.**

**"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said, rubbing her eyes and sitting down at the table.**

**"****We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"****Walk?" said Cris. "What, are we walking to the World Cup?"**

"I hope not," Prongs said trying to picture where it was.

"They are taking a Portkey." Lily said.

"Oh yeah," Prongs said rubbing the back of his neck.

"So that's where I get it from." Cris said with a smile.

**"****No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup…"**

**"****George!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, and they all jumped.**

**"****What?" said George, in an innocent tone that deceived nobody. **

"We have been around you for far too long." Bill said.

"It was worth a shot." George said.

**"****What is that in your pocket?"**

**"****Nothing!"**

**"****Don't you lie to me!"**

**Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at George's pocket and said, "Accio!"**

**Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket; he made a grab for them but missed, and they sped right into Mrs. Weasley's outstretched hand. **

"You hid products in your jackets?" Sirius asked. The twins nodded blushing brightly.

"So that's why mum is always checking our pockets." James said.

"Why?" Fred asked.

"Because we were going to the Burrow and you didn't want us to cause any trouble." Lily J said.

"That's understandable." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"We told you to destroy them!" said Mrs. Weasley furiously, holding up what were unmistakably more Ton-Tongue Toffees. "We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets; go on, both of you!"**

**It was an unpleasant scene; the twins had evidently been trying to smuggle as many toffees out of the house as possible, and it was only by using her Summoning Charm that Mrs. Weasley managed to find them all.**

**"Accio! Accio! Accio!" she shouted, and toffees zoomed from all sorts of unlikely places, including the lining of George's jacket and the turn-ups of Fred's jeans.**

Their kids blushed and looked away, it was apparent that Cris did the same to them, and not too long ago.

**"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted at his mother as she threw the toffees away.**

**"Oh a fine way to spend six months!" she shrieked. "No wonder you didn't get more O.W.L.s!"**

"Dad and Papa retook it just to prove that they would get better scores." Al said.

"Really?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah," Lily J said.

**All in all, the atmosphere was not very friendly as they took their departure. Mrs. Weasley was still glowering as she kissed Mr. Weasley on the cheek, though not nearly as much as the twins, who had each hoisted their rucksacks onto their backs and walked out without a word to her.**

"At least nothing happened to you guys." Remus said.

"What happened?" Lily asked very worried now. Nobody answered and Dumbledore continued reading.

**"Well, have a lovely time," said Mrs. Weasley, "and behave yourselves," she called after the twins' retreating backs, but they did not look back or answer. **

**"I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy along around midday," Mrs. Weasley said to Mr. Weasley, as he, Cris, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny set off across the dark yard after Fred and George.**

**It was chilly and the moon was still out. Only a dull, greenish tinge along the horizon to their right showed that daybreak was drawing closer. Cris, having been thinking about thousands of wizards speeding toward the Quidditch World Cup, sped up to walk with Mr. Weasley.**

**"So how does everyone get there without all the Muggles noticing?" she asked.**

"That's a good question." Gwen said.

**"It's been a massive organizational problem," sighed Mr. Weasley. "The trouble is, about a hundred thousand wizards turn up at the World Cup, and of course, we just haven't got a magical site big enough to accommodate them all. There are places Muggles can't penetrate, but imagine trying to pack a hundred thousand wizards into Diagon Alley or platform nine and three-quarters.**

"That would be a bloody nightmare." Sirius said.

"Very bad for all those claustrophobic." Gwen said.

**So we had to find a nice deserted moor, and set up as many anti-Muggle precautions as possible. The whole Ministry's been working on it for months. First, of course, we have to stagger the arrivals. People with cheaper tickets have to arrive two weeks beforehand. A limited number use Muggle transport, but we can't have too many clogging up their buses and trains - remember, wizards are coming from all over the world. Some Apparate, of course, but we have to set up safe points for them to appear, well away from Muggles. I believe there's a handy wood they're using as the Apparition point. For those who don't want to Apparate, or can't, we use Portkeys.**

"Sounds like a Key for the shores." Gwen said.

"They aren't, it'll explain." Cris said.

**They're objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time. You can do large groups at a time if you need to. There have been two hundred Portkeys placed at strategic points around Britain, and the nearest one to us is up at the top of Stoatshead Hill, so that's where we're headed."**

**Mr. Weasley pointed ahead of them, where a large black mass rose beyond the village of Ottery St. Catchpole.**

**"What sort of objects are Portkeys?" said Cris curiously.**

**"Well, they can be anything," said Mr. Weasley. "Unobtrusive things, obviously, so Muggles don't go picking them up and playing with them… stuff they'll just think is litter…" **

"What will happen if a Muggle picked them up?" Gwen asked.

"Nothing, the spell placed on the object, whatever it might be, will only activate if touched by a wizard or witch unless there is a timer then it will go to the spot where it was meant to go but without the Muggle that touches it." Remus said. Gwen nodded; she didn't want to get whisked away just by picking up the litter.

**They trudged down the dark, dank lane toward the village, the silence broken only by their footsteps. The sky lightened very slowly as they made their way through the village, its inky blackness diluting to deepest blue. Cris' hands and feet were freezing. Mr. Weasley kept checking his watch.**

**They didn't have breath to spare for talking as they began to climb Stoatshead Hill, stumbling occasionally in hidden rabbit holes, slipping on thick black tuffets of grass. Each breath Cris took was sharp in her chest and her legs were starting to seize up when, at last, her feet found level ground.**

"**Whew," panted Mr. Weasley, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his sweater. "Well, we've made good time - we've got ten minutes."**

**Hermione came over the crest of the hill last, clutching a stitch in her side.**

"I don't play Quidditch like the rest of you, I'm not in that good of shape, well good for someone who is a bookworm." Hermione said.

"Fair enough." Sirius said.

**"Now we just need the Portkey," said Mr. Weasley, replacing his glasses and squinting around at the ground. "It won't be big… Come on…"**

**They spread out, searching. They had only been at it for a couple of minutes, however, when a shout rent the still air.**

**"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it."**

**Two tall figures were silhouetted against the starry sky on the other side of the hilltop.**

**"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley, smiling as he strode over to the man who had shouted. The rest of them followed.**

"So you're not that far from the Diggory's." Remus said.

"No, the kids played with Cedric growing up." Mr. Weasley said.

**Mr. Weasley was shaking hands with a ruddy-faced wizard with a scrubby brown beard, who was holding a moldy-looking old boot in his other hand.**

**"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"**

**Cedric Diggory was an extremely handsome boy of around seventeen. He was Captain and Seeker of the Hufflepuff House Quidditch team at Hogwarts. **

**"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all his gaze stopping on Cris who smiled slightly and blushed. Everybody said hi back except Fred and George, who merely nodded. They had never quite forgiven Cedric for beating their team, Gryffindor, in the first Quidditch match of the previous year.**

Cris smacked them and they winced very slightly.

"What can we say,"

"We're competitive."

"I know," Cris said sadly.

**"Long walk, Arthur?" Cedric's father asked.**

**"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"**

**"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still… not complaining… Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons - and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" Amos Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Weasley boys, Cris, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"**

"Is he color blind?" Lily asked.

"No, I can see why he was confused with Cris, her hair had turned red." Hermione said.

"It did?" Cris asked.

"Yeah," Hermione said with a smile.

**"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Weasley, pointing out his children He looked at Cris whose hair had turned red sometime during the walk and shook his head. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's - and Cristal, another friend -"**

**"Merlin's beard," said Amos Diggory, his eyes widening. "Cristal? Cristal Potter?" **

Cris shook her head, she really hated the fame; at least in the room who cared know that she hated it.

**"Er - yeah," said Cris.**

**Cris was used to people looking curiously at her when they met her, used to the way their eyes moved at once to the lightning scar on her forehead, but it always made her feel uncomfortable.**

**"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Amos Diggory. "Told us all about playing against you last year… I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will… You beat Cristal Potter!"**

"He hasn't changed, has he?" Remus asked.

"Nope," Mr. Weasley said with a sad smile.

**Cris couldn't think of any reply to this, so she remained silent. Fred and George were both scowling again. Cedric looked slightly embarrassed.**

**"Cris fell off her broom, Dad," he muttered. "I told you… it was an accident…"**

"Did he have a crush on you?" Gwen asked.

"We went on a date." Cris said sadly.

"So that rumor was true." Fudge said. Cris didn't say anything and Dumbledore continued to read.

**"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you?" roared Amos genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman… but the best man won, I'm sure Cris' say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on; you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"**

"Cris is by far the better flier; it was all because of the Dementors." Sirius said.

"We know Sirius," Robin said taking his hand again.

**"Must be nearly time," said Mr. Weasley quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more, Amos?"**

**"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcetts couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"**

"Not that I know of." Bill said.

"There's more now." Victoire said.

"I don't doubt it." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"Not that I know of," said Mr. Weasley. "Yes, it's a minute off… We'd better get ready…"**

**He looked around at Cris and Hermione. "You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do -"**

**With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the nine of them crowded around the old boot held out by Amos Diggory. They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop.**

"That would look really weird." Gwen said.

"I did feel silly." Cris said.

"So did I." Hermione said.

**Nobody spoke. It suddenly occurred to Cris how odd this would look if a Muggle were to walk up here now… nine people, two of them grown men, clutching this manky old boot in the semidarkness, waiting…**

Gwen chuckled with the other two girls.

**"Three…" muttered Mr. Weasley, one eye still on his watch, 'two… one…"**

**It happened immediately: Cris felt as though a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. Her feet left the ground; she could feel Ron and Hermione on either side of her, their shoulders banging into hers; they were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color; her forefinger was stuck to the boot as though it was pulling her magnetically onward and then - Her feet slammed into the ground; Ron staggered into her and she fell over; the Portkey hit the ground near her head with a heavy thud. Cris looked up. Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric were still standing, though looking very windswept; everybody else was on the ground. **

"Sounds like a rough landing." Gwen said.

"Yeah, compared to that I think I would rather Floo." Hermione said.

"I would rather take the Portkey, that at least doesn't make me dizzy." Cris said.

**"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.**

"That is early." Padfoot said.

"I've gotten you up that early before." Prongs said.

"Yes, but it's the summer holiday, I don't have to get up early." Padfoot said.

"Fine, then you would've missed the game." Moony said. Padfoot stuck his tongue out and the kids in the room laughed at them.

"That's the chapter." Dumbledore said handing the book to McGonagall.


	9. Chapter 7: Bagman and Crouch

"**Chapter 7: Bagman and Crouch," **McGonagall read.

"So what is this chapter going to be about?" Prongs asked.

"Why do you keep asking when you know that they won't answer?" Moony asked. Prongs shrugged and McGonagall continued reading.

**Cris disentangled herself from Ron and got to her feet. They had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of them was a pair of tired and grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho. **

Gwen, Lily, Moony, Remus, Robin and the future kids laughed.

"That's not how you wear those clothes." Gwen said through her giggles.

**"****Morning, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used Portkeys beside him; Cris could see an old newspaper, an empty drinks can, and a punctured football.**

"Well not many people will pick those up unless they were working to clean the environment." Gwen said.

"That's true." Hermione said not having thought of that at the time.

**"****Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some… We've been here all night… You'd better get out of the way; we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest at five fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite… Weasley… Weasley…" He consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory… second field… ask for Mr. Payne."**

**"****Thanks, Basil," said Mr. Weasley, and he beckoned everyone to follow him. They set off across the deserted moor, unable to make out much through the mist.**

**After about twenty minutes,**

"That's a pretty big campground." Lily said.

"It had to be," Kingsley said.

**a small stone cottage next to a gate swam into view. Beyond it, Cris could just make out the ghostly shapes of hundreds and hundreds of tents, rising up the gentle slope of a large field toward a dark wood on the horizon. They said good-bye to the Diggory's and approached the cottage door. A man was standing in the doorway, looking out at the tents. Cris knew at a glance that this was the only real Muggle for several acres. When he heard their footsteps, he turned his head to look at them.**

**"****Morning!" said Mr. Weasley brightly.**

**"****Morning," said the Muggle.**

**"****Would you be Mr. Roberts?"**

**"****Aye, I would," said Mr. Roberts. "And who're you?"**

**"****Weasley - two tents, booked a couple of days ago?"**

**"****Aye," said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the door. "You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"**

"You weren't expecting it to last very long were you?" Padfoot asked.

"Even if it did last long we wouldn't get much sleep anyway." Mr. Weasley said.

"That's true." Prongs said.

**"****That's it," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"****You'll be paying now, then?" said Mr. Roberts.**

**"****Ah - right - certainly -" said Mr. Weasley. He retreated a short distance from the cottage and beckoned Cris toward him. "Help me, Cris," he muttered, pulling a roll of Muggle money from his pocket and starting to peel the notes apart. "This one's a - a - a ten? Ah yes, I see the little number on it now… So this is a five?"**

"Funny, you love Muggles yet you don't know how to figure out the money?" Remus asked with an amused smile.

"It's confusing." Mr. Weasley said.

"Muggle money is easier to understand, they have little numbers on the bills to help you understand it." Hermione said.

**"****A twenty," Cris corrected him in an undertone, uncomfortably aware of Mr. Roberts trying to catch every word.**

**"Ah yes, so it is… I don't know, these little bits of paper…"**

**"****You foreign?" said Mr. Roberts as Mr. Weasley returned with the correct notes.**

**"****Foreign?" repeated Mr. Weasley, puzzled.**

**"****You're not the first one who's had trouble with money," said Mr. Roberts, scrutinizing Mr. Weasley closely. "I had two try and pay me with great gold coins the size of hubcaps ten minutes ago."**

"They should have known better." Robin said shaking her head.

"It's a good thing we weren't discovered." Tonks said.

"It was close." Kingsley said.

**"****Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley nervously.**

**Mr. Roberts rummaged around in a tin for some change.**

**"****Never been this crowded," he said suddenly, looking out over the misty field again. "Hundreds of pre-bookings. People usually just turn up…"**

"No wonder he was suspicious." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"****Is that right?" said Mr. Weasley, his hand held out for his change, but Mr. Roberts didn't give it to him.**

**"****Aye," he said thoughtfully. "People from all over. Loads of foreigners. And not just foreigners. Weirdos, you know? There's a bloke walking 'round in a kilt and a poncho." **

"Good grief, the ministry really needs to hold classes to let them know what the style of Muggles are." Lily said.

"That would be a very good idea." Tonks said.

**"****Shouldn't he?" said Mr. Weasley anxiously**

**"****It's like some sort of… I dunno… like some sort of rally," said Mr. Roberts. "They all seem to know each other. Like a big party."**

"Well it is like a big party." Charlie said.

"Where everybody gets loud and obnoxious." Cris said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bill asked.

"Nothing," Cris said with a smile.

**At that moment, a wizard in plus-fours appeared out of thin air next to Mr. Roberts's front door.**

**"****Obliviate!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at Mr. Roberts.**

**Instantly, Mr. Roberts's eyes slid out of focus, his brows unknitted, and a look of dreamy unconcern fell over his face. Cris recognized the symptoms of one who had just had his memory modified.**

**"****A map of the campsite for you," Mr. Roberts said placidly to Mr. Weasley. "And your change."**

**"****Thanks very much," said Mr. Weasley. **

**The wizard in plus-fours accompanied them toward the gate to the campsite. He looked exhausted: His chin was blue with stubble and there were deep purple shadows under his eyes. Once out of earshot of Mr. Roberts, he muttered to Mr. Weasley, "Been having a lot of trouble with him. Needs a Memory Charm ten times a day to keep him happy. **

"That could be dangerous." Keiran said.

"How do you know?" Sirius asked.

"Really? You and Cris and Uncle Ron are Aurors. You guys talk about it a lot." Keiran said.

"That makes sense." Sirius said.

**And Ludo Bagman's not helping. Trotting around talking about Bludgers and Quaffles at the top of his voice, not a worry about anti-Muggle security. Blimey, I'll be glad when this is over. See you later, Arthur." He Disapparated.**

**"****I thought Mr. Bagman was Head of Magical Games and Sports," said Ginny, looking surprised. "He should know better than to talk about Bludgers near Muggles, shouldn't he?"**

"You would think." Bill said.

"But he is perfect for the job though." Charlie said.

"That he is." Sirius said.

**"****He should," said Mr. Weasley, smiling, and leading them through the gates into the campsite, "but Ludo's always been a bit… well… lax about security. You couldn't wish for a more enthusiastic head of the sports department though. He played Quidditch for England himself, you know. And he was the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps ever had."**

**They trudged up the misty field between long rows of tents. Most looked almost ordinary; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible, but had slipped up by adding chimneys, or bell pulls, or weather vanes. However, here and there was a tent so obviously magical that Cris could hardly be surprised that Mr. Roberts was getting suspicious. Halfway up the field stood an extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace, with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance.**

Draco blushed and everyone snickered, they obviously knew who this belonged to.

"Why peacocks?" Gwen asked.

"I honestly don't know; my father is just very fond of them." Draco said with a shrug.

**A little farther on they passed a tent that had three floors and several turrets; and a short way beyond that was a tent that had a front garden attached, complete with birdbath, sundial, and fountain.**

"Good grief, that is just over the top." Robin said.

"No kidding," Bill said.

**"****Always the same," said Mr. Weasley, smiling. "We can't resist showing off when we get together. Ah, here we are, look, this is us."**

**They had reached the very edge of the wood at the top of the field, and here was an empty space, with a small sign hammered into the ground that read WEEZLY.**

McGonagall snorted and spelled it out.

"It's not that hard to spell." Bill said.

**"****Couldn't have a better spot!" said Mr. Weasley happily. "The field is just on the other side of the wood there, we're as close as we could be." He hoisted his backpack from his shoulders. **

"Good spot." Keiran said with a smile.

**"****Right," he said excitedly, "no magic allowed, strictly speaking, not when we're out in these numbers on Muggle land. We'll be putting these tents up by hand! **

"This is going to be funny." Gwen said with a smile, she was loving the idea of magic.

**Shouldn't be too difficult… Muggles do it all the time… Here, Cris, where do you reckon we should start?"**

"You really should have asked Hermione Mr. Weasley, she's been camping before." Cris said.

"I realized that." Mr. Weasley said.

**Cris had never been camping in her life; the Dursley's had never taken her on any kind of holiday, preferring to leave her with Mrs. Figg, an old neighbor. **

"We'll go camping sometime." Remus said. He missed the looks from the future kids.

**However, she and Hermione worked out where most of the poles and pegs should go, and though Mr. Weasley was more of a hindrance than a help, because he got thoroughly overexcited when it came to using the mallet, they finally managed to erect a pair of shabby two-man tents.**

"But there are ten of you." Gwen said.

"Magic," the group said. Gwen raised a brow and McGonagall continued reading.

**All of them stood back to admire their handiwork. Nobody looking at these tents would guess they belonged to wizards, Cris thought, but the trouble was that once Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived, they would be a party of ten. Hermione seemed to have spotted this problem too; she gave Cris a quizzical look as Mr. Weasley dropped to his hands and knees and entered the first tent.**

**"****We'll be a bit cramped," he called, "but I think we'll all squeeze in. Come and have a look."**

**Cris bent down, ducked under the tent flap, and felt her jaw drop. She had walked into what looked like an old-fashioned, three room flat, complete with bathroom and kitchen. **

"Man, I wish I could go camping like that." Gwen said.

"You do," Lily J said. Gwen smiled and she couldn't wait for that to happen.

**Oddly enough, it was furnished in exactly the same sort of style as Mrs. Figg's house: There were crocheted covers on the mismatched chairs and a strong smell of cats.**

**"****Well, it's not for long," said Mr. Weasley, mopping his bald patch with a handkerchief and peering in at the four bunk beds that stood in the bedroom. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago."**

"Poor dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

**He picked up the dusty kettle and peered inside it. "We'll need water…"**

**"****There's a tap marked on this map the Muggle gave us," said Ron, who had followed Cris inside the tent and seemed completely unimpressed by its extraordinary inner proportions. **

"Well I was used to stuff being bigger on the inside then on the outside." Ron said.

"I know," Cris said as she stuck her tongue out.

**"****It's on the other side of the field."**

**"****Well, why don't you, Cris, and Hermione go and get us some water then" - Mr. Weasley handed over the kettle and a couple of saucepans - "and the rest of us will get some wood for a fire?"**

**"****But we've got an oven," said Ron. "Why can't we just -"**

**"****Ron, anti-Muggle security!" said Mr. Weasley, his face shining with anticipation. **

**"****When real Muggles camp, they cook on fires outdoors. I've seen them at it!"**

"But not all of us do that. We sometimes bring camp stoves and other things like that to cook on." Gwen said. Mr. Weasley looked highly interested but McGonagall kept reading.

**After a quick tour of the girls' tent, which was slightly smaller than the boys', though without the smell of cats, which Cris was highly thankful for,**

"Lucky," the boys muttered.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione set off across the campsite with the kettle and saucepans.**

**Now, with the sun newly risen and the mist lifting, they could see the city of tents that stretched in every direction. They made their way slowly through the rows, staring eagerly around. It was only just dawning on Cris how many witches and wizards there must be in the world; she had never really thought much about those in other countries.**

"Or course there are, why wouldn't there be?" Snape asked.

"I just never really thought about the ones in other countries. I read about it but it had slipped my mind." Cris said.

"That's understandable." Remus said.

**Their fellow campers were starting to wake up. First to stir were the families with small children; Cris had never seen witches and wizards this young before. A tiny boy no older than two was crouched outside a large pyramid-shaped tent, holding a wand and poking happily at a slug in the grass, which was swelling slowly to the size of a salami. As they drew level with him, his mother came hurrying out of the tent.**

"**How many times, Kevin? You don't - touch - Daddy's - wand - yecchh!"**

**She had trodden on the giant slug, which burst. Her scolding carried after them on the still air, mingling with the little boy's yells - "You bust slug! You bust slug!" **

The group laughed while Prongs shuddered slightly at the thought of slugs.

"Scar did that!" Keiran exclaimed. Scarlett gave her brother a look and he just grinned at his sister.

"I was five, and bored." Scar said. "And Lily J and James were still sleeping."

The group laughed a little bit before McGonagall continued reading.

**A short way farther on, they saw two little witches, barely older than Kevin, who were riding toy broomsticks that rose only high enough for the girls' toes to skim the dewy grass. A Ministry wizard had already spotted them; as he hurried past Cris, Ron, and Hermione he muttered distractedly, "In broad daylight! Parents having a lie-in, I suppose -"**

"Lily J and James did that!" Keiran said.

"Hey!" the two said.

"It's true," Keiran said.

**Here and there adult wizards and witches were emerging from their tents and starting to cook breakfast. Some, with furtive looks around them, conjured fires with their wands; others were striking matches with dubious looks on their faces, as though sure this couldn't work. Three African wizards sat in serious conversation, all of them wearing long white robes and roasting what looked like a rabbit on a bright purple fire, while a group of middle-aged American witches sat gossiping happily beneath a spangled banner stretched between their tents that read: THE SALEM WITCHES' INSTITUTE.**

"Is that the American school?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, one of the best." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I have a pen pal from there, her name is Julia Pickett, and she and I get along really well." Victoire said.

"I had a pen pal too." Bill said.

"I know, you told me about it." Victoire said with a smile.

**Cris caught snatches of conversation in strange languages from the inside of tents they passed, and though she couldn't understand a word, the tone of every single voice was excited.**

**"Er - is it my eyes, or has everything gone green?" said Ron.**

"You found the Irish," Padfoot said with a wide grin.

**It wasn't just Ron's eyes. They had walked into a patch of tents that were all covered with a thick growth of shamrocks, so that it looked as though small, oddly shaped hillocks had sprouted out of the earth. Grinning faces could be seen under those that had their flaps open. Then, from behind them, they heard their names.**

**"Cris! Ron! Hermione!"**

**It was Seamus Finnigan, their fellow Gryffindor fourth year. He was sitting in front of his own shamrock-covered tent, with a sandy-haired woman who had to be his mother, and his best friend, Dean Thomas, also of Gryffindor. "Like the decorations?" said Seamus, grinning. "The Ministry's not too happy."**

"No kidding, but then again it wasn't too bad." Percy said.

"What did the Bulgarians do?" Lily asked. They didn't answer so McGonagall continued reading.

**"Ah, why shouldn't we show our colors?" said Mrs. Finnigan. "You should see what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents. You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?" she added, eyeing Cris, Ron, and Hermione beadily.**

"Of course they will agree with you staring at them like that." Robin said.

"I was going to anyway, I've like the Irish," Cris said finishing with an Irish accent.

"You do that really well." Prongs said.

"It helps when you hang around Seamus a lot." Cris said.

"Yeah, yeah it would." Lily said with a smile.

**When they had assured her that they were indeed supporting Ireland, they set off again, though, as Ron said, "Like we'd say anything else surrounded by that lot."**

**"I wonder what the Bulgarians have got dangling all over their tents?" said Hermione.**

"Something Bulgarian." Gwen said.

"Clever," Cris said with a grin towards her friend.

**"Let's go and have a look," said Cris, pointing to a large patch of tents upfield, where the Bulgarian flag - white, green, and red - was fluttering in the breeze. The tents here had not been bedecked with plant life, but each and every one of them had the same poster attached to it, a poster of a very surly face with heavy black eyebrows. The picture was, of course, moving, but all it did was blink and scowl.**

**"Krum," said Ron quietly.**

**"What?" said Hermione.**

**"Krum!" said Ron. "Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker!"**

"That's my future husband?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, he is actually really sweet." Hermione said.

"I'll take your word for it." Gwen said.

**"He looks really grumpy," said Hermione, looking around at the many Krum's blinking and scowling at them.**

**"Really grumpy?" Ron raised his eyes to the heavens. "Who cares what he looks like? He's unbelievable. He's really young too. Only just eighteen or something. **

"He is young," Prongs raising an eyebrow.

"He must be really good then." Padfoot said.

"Mum's better," James said.

"You're just saying that because you're my son." Cris said.

"No he isn't Viktor challenged you to a seeker- off and you beat him." Keiran said.

"I beat him?" Cris asked blinking rapidly at her godson.

"Yeah, it was three years ago, Ryker was two." Teddy said.

"That is awesome." Prongs said.

**He's a genius, you wait until tonight, you'll see."**

**There was already a small queue for the tap in the corner of the field. Cris, Ron, and Hermione joined it, right behind a pair of men who were having a heated argument. One of them was a very old wizard who was wearing a long flowery nightgown. **

"Oh my god, does he know that those are for women?" Lily asked.

**The other was clearly a Ministry wizard; he was holding out a pair of pinstriped trousers and almost crying with exasperation.**

**"Just put them on, Archie, there's a good chap. You can't walk around like that; the Muggle at the gate's already getting suspicious –**

**"I bought this in a Muggle shop," said the old wizard stubbornly. "Muggles wear them."**

"No the women do." Gwen said.

**"Muggle women wear them, Archie, not the men, they wear these," said the Ministry wizard, and he brandished the pinstriped trousers.**

**"I'm not putting them on," said old Archie in indignation. "I like a healthy breeze 'round my privates, thanks."**

"Too much information." Padfoot said gagging at the mental image.

**Hermione was overcome with such a strong fit of the giggles at this point that she had to duck out of the queue and only returned when Archie had collected his water and moved away. Walking more slowly now, because of the weight of the water, they made their way back through the campsite. Here and there, they saw more familiar faces: other Hogwarts students with their families. Oliver Wood, the old captain of Cris' House Quidditch team, who had just left Hogwarts, dragged Cris over to his parents' tent to introduce her, and told her excitedly that he had just been signed to the Puddlemere United reserve team. **

"That's great," Sirius said with a smile.

**Next they were hailed by Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff fourth year, and a little farther on they saw Cho Chang, a girl who played Seeker on the Ravenclaw team. She waved and smiled at Cris which seemed faltered, who slopped quite a lot of water down her front as she waved back equally faltering as well. **

"Do you two have a grudge or something?" Lily asked.

"You can say that." Cris said.

**More to stop Cris from hitting the girl, Hermione hurriedly pointed out a large group of teenagers whom she had never seen before.**

**"Who d'you reckon they are?" she said. "They don't go to Hogwarts, do they?"**

"No, they probably go to some other school in Europe." Robin said.

**"'Spect they go to some foreign school," said Ron. "I know there are others. Never met anyone who went to one, though. Bill had a penfriend at a school in Brazil… this was years and years ago… and he wanted to go on an exchange trip but Mum and Dad couldn't afford it. His penfriend got all offended when he said he wasn't going and sent him a cursed hat. It made his ears shrivel up." **

"That hurt." Bill said.

"Julia doesn't do that; in fact she is coming over seas in a few months." Victoire said.

"Cool," Bill said.

**Cris laughed but didn't voice the amazement she felt at hearing about other wizarding schools. She supposed, now that she saw representatives of so many nationalities in the campsite, that she had been stupid never to realize that Hogwarts couldn't be the only one. **

**She glanced at Hermione, who looked utterly unsurprised by the information. No doubt she had run across the news about other wizarding schools in some book or other.**

**"You've been ages," said George when they finally got back to the Weasley's tents.**

**"Met a few people," said Ron, setting the water down. "You've not got that fire started yet?"**

**"Dad's having fun with the matches," said Fred.**

"Figures," Remus said.

"Every time I got it to light I dropped the match and it would go out." Mr. Weasley said. Everyone shook their heads and McGonagall continued reading.

**Mr. Weasley was having no success at all in lighting the fire, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Splintered matches littered the ground around him, but he looked as though he was having the time of his life.**

**"Oops!" he said as he managed to light a match and promptly dropped it in surprise. **

"Really?" Gwen asked raising an eyebrow.

"It would be shocking at first." Cris said.

"Well yeah I can see that." Gwen said.

**"Come here, Mr. Weasley," said Hermione kindly, taking the box from him, and showing him how to do it properly.**

"Hermione to the rescue!" Ron exclaimed which Hermione slapped him on the arm for.

**At last they got the fire lit, though it was at least another hour before it was hot enough to cook anything. There was plenty to watch while they waited, however. Their tent seemed to be pitched right alongside a kind of thoroughfare to the field, and Ministry members kept hurrying up and down it, greeting Mr. Weasley cordially as they passed. Mr. Weasley kept up a running commentary, mainly for Cris' and Hermione's benefit; his own children knew too much about the Ministry to be greatly interested.**

**"That was Cuthbert Mockridge, Head of the Goblin Liaison Office… Here comes Gilbert Wimple; he's with the Committee on Experimental Charms; he's had those horns for a while now… Hello, Arnie… Arnold Peasegood, he's an Obliviator - member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, you know… and that's Bode and Croaker… they're Unspeakables…"**

"They sound like spies." Gwen said.

"Yeah, they kind of do." Hermione said with a laugh.

**"They're what?"**

**"From the Department of Mysteries, top secret, no idea what they get up to…"**

"They really do sound like spies." Gwen said. "Working for the Government to keep the world safe." The group laughed once again and McGonagall continued reading.

**At last, the fire was ready, and they had just started cooking eggs and sausages when Bill, Charlie, and Percy came strolling out of the woods toward them.**

**"Just Apparated, Dad," said Percy loudly. "Ah, excellent, lunch!"**

Percy blushed and looked away.

**They were halfway through their plates of eggs and sausages when Mr. Weasley jumped to his feet, waving and grinning at a man who was striding toward them.**

**"Aha!" he said. "The man of the moment! Ludo!"**

**Ludo Bagman was easily the most noticeable person Cris had seen so far, even including old Archie in his flowered nightdress.**

"What is he wearing?" Robin asked.

"Not a night dress, I can tell you that." Cris said.

**He was wearing long Quidditch robes in thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black. An enormous picture of a wasp was splashed across his chest. He had the look of a powerfully built man gone slightly to seed; the robes were stretched tightly across a large belly he surely had not had in the days when he had played Quidditch for England. His nose was squashed (probably broken by a stray Bludger, Cris thought), but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like a very overgrown schoolboy.**

"He acts like one too." Cris said.

"Yeah, just a bit." Charlie said with a smile.

**"Ahoy there!" Bagman called happily. He was walking as though he had springs attached to the balls of his feet and was plainly in a state of wild excitement.**

**"Arthur, old man," he puffed as he reached the campfire, "what a day, eh? What a day! Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming… and hardly a hiccough in the arrangements… Not much for me to do!"**

"Really, about the security?" Tonks asked.

"Don't try and understand him mum." Teddy said.

"No kidding," Tonks said.

**Behind him, a group of haggard-looking Ministry wizards rushed past, pointing at the distant evidence of some sort of a magical fire that was sending violet sparks twenty feet into the air.**

**Percy hurried forward with his hand outstretched. Apparently his disapproval of the way Ludo Bagman ran his department did not prevent him from wanting to make a good impression.**

"Git," the twins muttered under their breath. Their kids looked down sadly; they knew that their dad and papa were really upset about their brother's death even to this day.

**"Ah - yes," said Mr. Weasley, grinning, "this is my son Percy. He's just started at the Ministry - and this is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred -**

"I can sometimes tell you two apart," Mr. Weasley said.

"Ah, that's no fun." Fred said.

**Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter, Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger and Cris Potter."**

**Bagman did the smallest of double takes when he heard Cris' name, and his eyes performed the familiar flick upward to the scar on Cris' forehead.**

**"Everyone," Mr. Weasley continued, "this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets -" **

"That was nice of him." Lily said.

**Bagman beamed and waved his hand as if to say it had been nothing.**

**"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur?" he said eagerly, jingling what seemed to be a large amount of gold in the pockets of his yellow-and-black robes.**

**"I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first - I offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years - and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a weeklong match."**

"She really shouldn't have done that." Cris whispered to the twins. Fred and George nodded in agreement.

**"Oh… go on then," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see… a Galleon on Ireland to win?"**

**"A Galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, very well… any other takers?"**

**"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like -"**

"No I wouldn't like it, you guys better not have gambled." Mrs. Weasley said. The twins didn't look at her but were messing with Cris' lilac and black hair.

**"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins - but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch.**

"That's unlikely." Padfoot said.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Fred and George just smiled at their mum and McGonagall kept reading with a semblance of a smile on her lips.

**Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."**

"He doesn't want to see those." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that," Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.**

"It seems he really likes it." Neville said.

"They are really cool," James said.

**"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"**

**Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.**

**"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting… That's all your savings… Your mother -"**

"What about me?" Mrs. Weasley asked her husband.

"I don't exactly remember what I was going to say." Mr. Weasley said sheepishly.

**"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance… I'll give you excellent odds on that one… We'll add five Galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we…"**

**Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names.**

**"Cheers," said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away into the front of his robes. Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley.**

**"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."**

**"Mr. Crouch?" said Percy, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing with excitement. "He speaks over two hundred! **

"Is that even possible?" Gwen asked.

"Apparently," Lily said.

**Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll…"**

"Troll is easy though." Sirius said.

**"Anyone can speak Troll," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt."**

The group laughed once again.

**Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil.**

**"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?" Mr. Weasley asked as Bagman settled himself down on the grass beside them all.**

**"Not a dicky bird," said Bagman comfortably. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha… memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July."**

"It's too late for her." Robin said sadly.

**"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea.**

**"Barty Crouch keeps saying that," said Bagman, his round eyes widening innocently, "but we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh - talk of the devil! Barty!"**

Sirius glared at the book but didn't say anything about Barty.

**A wizard had just Apparated at their fireside, and he could not have made more of a contrast with Ludo Bagman, sprawled on the grass in his old Wasp robes. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were very highly polished. Cris could see at once why Percy idolized him. Percy was a great believer in rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager; Cris doubted even Uncle Vernon would have spotted him for what he really was.**

"Wow, that I want to see." Prongs said.

"He can't now." Cris said.

"Why's that?" Padfoot asked.

"He was killed last year." Percy said.

"What happened?" Moony asked.

"At the end of the book." Cris mumbled but it was loud enough for the group to hear.

**"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty," said Ludo brightly, patting the ground beside him.**

**"No thank you, Ludo," said Crouch, and there was a bite of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."**

**"Oh is that what they're after?" said Bagman. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."**

"Is the accent really that strong?" Gwen asked.

"Depends really, I could always understand them." Cris said.

**"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of half bow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"**

"You really don't need to do that." Sirius said to Percy.

**"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. "Yes - thank you, Weatherby."**

**Fred and George choked into their own cups. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle.**

**"Oh and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur," said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets."**

"It's dangerous, they don't really understand that Muggles can get it on them and possibly get hurt." Mr. Weasley said.

**Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh.**

**"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"**

"No," the group said.

**"I doubt it," said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from Percy. "He's desperate to export here."**

**"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?" said Bagman.**

**"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle," said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve - but that was before carpets were banned, of course."**

"Why were they banned to begin with?" Gwen asked.

"Too many Muggles saw us using them; a lot of people were obliviated." Mr. Weasley said.

**He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the law.**

"That's because he was ashamed of what his son did." Fudge said.

"What did he do?" Gwen asked.

"He joined the Death Eaters." Cris said.

**"So, been keeping busy, Barty?" said Bagman breezily.**

**"Fairly," said Mr. Crouch dryly. "Organizing Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo."**

**"I expect you'll both be glad when this is over?" said Mr. Weasley.**

"No kidding, I think those who were working were glad when it was all over." Lily said.

**Ludo Bagman looked shocked.**

**"Glad! Don't know when I've had more fun… Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to look forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?"**

"What is he talking about?" Padfoot asked.

"Something to do with the title of the book maybe." Moony suggested.

**"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."**

"Did he even know your name?" Scarlett asked.

"No, he never got it right." Percy said.

**He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Ludo to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily.**

**"See you all later!" he said. "You'll be up in the Top Box with me – **

"Perfect seats." Keiran said.

**I'm commentating!"**

"Nice," Padfoot and Prongs said.

**He waved, Barty Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them Disapparated.**

**"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" said Fred at once. "What were they talking about?"**

**"You'll find out soon enough," said Arthur, smiling.**

"Not cool," the past time travelers said.

**"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it," said Percy stiffly. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."**

"But still, I want to know what happened." Padfoot said.

**"Oh shut up, Weatherby," said Fred.**

The pranksters chuckled and McGonagall continued reading.

**A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretence disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.**

**Salesmen were Apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes - green for Ireland, red for Bulgaria - which were squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves. **

"Those sound color than the action figures my brother collects." Gwen said.

**"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this," Ron told Cris as they and Hermione strolled through the salesmen, buying souvenirs. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him. **

"Well of course, they are playing against each other." Tonks said.

**"Wow, look at these!" said Cris, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.**

**"Omnioculars," said the sales wizard eagerly. "You can replay action… slow everything down… and they flash up a play-by- play breakdown if you need it. Bargain - ten Galleons each." **

"Those sound awesome." Prongs said.

"I wish they were invented now." Padfoot said.

"They are a lot better in the future." Teddy said.

**"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.**

**"Three pairs," said Cris firmly to the wizard.**

"So kind," Lily said smiling at her daughter.

**"No - don't bother," said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that Cris, who had inherited a small fortune from her parents, had much more money than he did. **

"It's not like that now." Al said.

"Well yeah, that's the future." Mr. Weasley said.

**"You won't be getting anything for Christmas," Cris told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and Hermione's hands. "For about ten years, mind."**

**"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.**

**"Oooh, thanks, Cris," said Hermione. "And I'll get us some programs, look -"**

**Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill, Charlie, and Ginny were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold. **

"And we're okay with that." The twins said.

"We got something much better." George said winking at Cris.

**And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.**

**"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"**

"That's the chapter." McGonagall said handing the book to Snape.

"Man, I hope that he does a good job." Ron whispered.

"Me too." Ginny whispered. Snape then started the chapter.


	10. Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup

"**Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup," **Snape read.

"Woohoo," cried the Quidditch fans. Though the group was a little apprehensive about what happened after the cup.

**Clutching their purchases, Mr. Weasley in the lead, they all hurried into the wood, following the lantern-lit trail. They could hear the sounds of thousands of people moving around them, shouts and laughter, snatches of singing. The atmosphere of feverish excitement was highly infectious; Cris couldn't stop grinning. They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Cris could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, she could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it.**

"That's huge." Gwen said with wide eyes.

**"****Seats a hundred thousand,"**

"I don't think any stadium can sit that many." Gwen said.

**said Mr. Weasley, spotting the awestruck look on Cris' face. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again… bless them," he added fondly, leading the way toward the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.**

**"****Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."**

"That is really funny, in the Muggle world the top seats are the worse but in this world the top seats are the best." Gwen said.

"Well yeah, with a game that's played on brooms the higher you go the better you are to see the action." Robin said.

**The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here****,**

"And you'll take half of them." Sirius said with a smile.

"But who else is with you?" Prongs asked.

"Other important people." Lily said.

**and Cris, filing into the front seats with the Weasley's, looked down upon a scene the likes of which she could never have imagined.**

**A hundred thousand witches and wizards were taking their places in the seats, which rose in levels around the long oval field. Everything was suffused with a mysterious golden light, which seemed to come from the stadium itself. The field looked smooth as velvet from their lofty position. At either end of the field stood three goal hoops, fifty feet high; right opposite them, almost at Cris' eye level, was a gigantic blackboard. Gold writing kept dashing across it as though an invisible giant's hand were scrawling upon the blackboard and then wiping it off again; watching it, Cris saw that it was flashing advertisements across the field.**

"That's cool," Gwen said.

"Muggles have them now." Victoire said. "But they are digital so they aren't that cool."

**The Bluebottle: A Broom for All the Family - safe, reliable, and with Built-in Anti-Burgler Buzzer… Mrs. Shower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover: No Pain, No Stain!… Gladrags Wizardwear - London, Paris, Hogsmeade…**

**Cris tore her eyes away from the sign and looked over her shoulder to see who else was sharing the box with them. So far it was empty, except for a tiny creature sitting in the second from last seat at the end of the row behind them. The creature, whose legs were so short they stuck out in front of it on the chair, was wearing a tea towel draped like a toga, and it had its face hidden in its hands. Yet those long, batlike ears were oddly familiar…**

"It's a house-elf." Lily said.

"What's a house-elf doing there?" Gwen asked.

"Probably saving a seat for its master." Prongs said.

**"****Dobby?" said Cris incredulously.**

"They aren't all named Dobby you know." Sirius said.

"I know that now." Cris said blushing slightly.

**The tiny creature looked up and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato. It wasn't Dobby – it was, however, unmistakably a house-elf, as Cris' friend Dobby had been. Cris had set Dobby free from his old owners, the Malfoy family.**

**"****Did sir just call me Dobby?" squeaked the elf curiously from between its fingers. Its voice was higher even than Dobby's had been, a teeny, quivering squeak of a voice, and Cris suspected though it was very hard to tell with a house-elf – that this one might just be female. Ron and Hermione spun around in their seats to look. Though they had heard a lot about Dobby from Cris, they had never actually met him. Even Mr. Weasley looked around in interest.**

**"Sorry," Cris told the elf, "I just thought you were someone I knew."**

**"****But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf. **

"Now that is very unlikely for that to happen." Tonks said.

"But it did," Cris said.

**She was shielding her face, as though blinded by light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir -" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Cris' scar. "You is surely Cristal Potter!"**

"It's funny that even magical creatures know you." Gwen said.

"I get used to it, though it doesn't mean that I like it." Cris said.

**"****Yeah, I am," said Cris.**

**"****But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck.**

**"****How is he?" said Cris. "How's freedom suiting him?"**

**"****Ah, miss," said Winky, shaking her head, "ah miss, meaning no disrespect, miss, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, miss, when you is setting him free."**

"That's just most house-elves, Dobby is the weird one." Ginny said.

"Really now?" Hermione asked.

"Think about it, all the house-elves at Hogwarts love working without pay or days off, that's what they do." Ginny said. Hermione thought about it and nodded.

**"****Why?" said Cris, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"**

**"****Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir," said Winky sadly. "Ideas above his station, miss. Can't get another position, miss."**

**"****Why not?" said Cris.**

**Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, "He is wanting paying for his work, miss."**

"That's good though, right?" Gwen asked.

"Not really, some wizard families won't take in house-elves who want to be paid." Prongs said.

**"****Paying?" said Cris blankly. "Well - why shouldn't he be paid?"**

**Winky looked quite horrified at the idea and closed her fingers slightly so that her face was half-hidden again.**

**"****House-elves is not paid, miss!" she said in a muffled squeak. "No, no, no. I says to Dobby, I says, go find yourself a nice family and settle down, Dobby. He is getting up to all sorts of high jinks, miss, what is unbecoming to a house-elf. You goes racketing around like this, Dobby, I says, and next thing I hear you's up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, like some common goblin."**

**"****Well, it's about time he had a bit of fun," said Cris.**

**"****House-elves is not supposed to have fun, Cristal Potter," said Winky firmly, from behind her hands. "House-elves does what they is told. I is not liking heights at all, Cristal Potter" - she glanced toward the edge of the box and gulped - "but my master sends me to the Top Box and I comes, sir."**

"Poor thing," Gwen said. Cris was glaring at the book, that was where her wand was taken.

**"****Why's he sent you up here, if he knows you don't like heights?" said Cris, frowning.**

**"****Master - master wants me to save him a seat, Cristal Potter. He is very busy," said Winky, tilting her head toward the empty space beside her. "Winky is wishing she is back in master's tent, Cristal Potter, but Winky does what she is told. Winky is a good house-elf."**

**She gave the edge of the box another frightened look and hid her eyes completely again. Cris turned back to the others.**

**"****So that's a house-elf?" Ron muttered. "Weird things, aren't they?"**

"Yeah, they can be." Sirius said.

"Some are weirder then others though." Tonks said.

**"****Dobby was weirder," said Cris fervently.**

"Why do you say that?" Gwen asked.

"He wanted freedom." Sirius said. "Some house elves don't."

**Ron pulled out his Omnioculars and started testing them, staring down into the crowd on the other side of the stadium.**

**"****Wild!" he said, twiddling the replay knob on the side. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again… and again… and again…"**

"Ron!" cried his mother. Hermione slapped him upside the head.

**Hermione, meanwhile, was skimming eagerly through her velvet covered, tasseled program.**

"Sounds fancy." Neville said.

**"'****A display from the team mascots will precede the match,'" she read aloud.**

"Ooooo, I wonder what the Bulgarians bring." Lily said.

"The Irish is kind of obvious." Prongs agreed.

**"****Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."**

**The box filled gradually around them over the next half hour. Mr. Weasley kept shaking hands with people who were obviously very important wizards. Percy jumped to his feet so often that he looked as though he were trying to sit on a hedgehog. When Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself, arrived, Percy bowed so low that his glasses fell off and shattered.**

"Oops," Gwen said with a giggle.

**Highly embarrassed, he repaired them with his wand and thereafter remained in his seat, throwing jealous looks at Cris, whom Cornelius Fudge had greeted like an old friend. They had met before, and Fudge shook Cris' hand in a fatherly fashion, asked how she was, and introduced her to the wizards on either side of him.**

**"Cristal Potter, you know," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly, who was wearing splendid robes of black velvet trimmed with gold and didn't seem to understand a word of English.**

**"Cristal Potter… oh come on now, you know who she is… the girl who survived You-Know-Who… you do know who he is -"**

**The Bulgarian wizard suddenly spotted Cris' scar and started gabbling loudly and excitedly, pointing at it. **

"So he knows," Tonks said with a smile.

"All this time, I've been friends with a celebrity." Gwen said.

"Not you too." Cris said. Gwen rolled her eyes and laughed.

**"****Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge wearily to Cris. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat… Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places… ah, and here's Lucius!"**

"Great," the past time travelers said.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione turned quickly. Edging along the second row to three still-empty seats right behind Mr. Weasley were none other than Dobby the house-elf's former owners: Lucius Malfoy; his son, Draco; and a woman Cris supposed must be Draco's mother. Cris and Draco Malfoy had been enemies ever since their very first journey to Hogwarts. A pale boy with a pointed face and white-blond hair, Draco greatly resembled his father. His mother was blonde too; tall and slim, she would have been nice-looking if she hadn't been wearing a look that suggested there was a nasty smell under her nose. **

"Nah, that's how my dear cousin always looks." Sirius said.

"That's why my mum doesn't keep pictures in the house." Tonks said.

"I'm not surprised." Sirius said.

**"****Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"**

Draco blushed and looked down into his lap. He was now sitting next to Luna who smiled at him and grabbed his hand. He smiled back at her appreciatively.

**"****How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge, smiling and bowing to Mrs. Malfoy. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk - Obalonsk - Mr. - well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else - you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"**

**It was a tense moment. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy looked at each other and Cris vividly recalled the last time they had come face-to-face: It had been in Flourish and Blotts' bookshop, and they had had a fight.**

"What they fight about?" Robin asked with a smile and a giggle.

"Does it matter?" Sirius asked.

"No, not really, I was just curious." Robin said.

**Mr. Malfoy's cold gray eyes swept over Mr. Weasley, and then up and down the row.**

**"****Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"**

Everyone was glaring at the book in Snape's hands; you could tell that McGonagall was having a hard time keeping calm.

**Fudge, who wasn't listening, said, "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."**

**"****How - how nice," said Mr. Weasley, with a very strained smile.**

**Mr. Malfoy's eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him. **

**Cris knew exactly what was making Mr. Malfoy's lip curl like that. The Malfoy's prided themselves on being purebloods; in other words, they considered anyone of Muggle descent, like Hermione, second-class. **

"Which is utter bullshit." Prongs said.

"Magical children of Muggle descent are just as good if not better than purebloods." Padfoot said.

"Well said Mr. Potter and Mr. Black." Dumbledore said.

**However, under the gaze of the Minister of Magic, Mr. Malfoy didn't dare say anything. He nodded sneeringly to Mr. Weasley and continued down the line to his seats. Draco shot Cris, Ron, and Hermione one contemptuous look, then settled himself between his mother and father.**

**"****Slimy gits," Ron muttered as he, Cris, and Hermione turned to face the field again. Next moment, Ludo Bagman charged into the box.**

**"****Everyone ready?" he said, his round face gleaming like a great, excited Edam. "Minister - ready to go?"**

**"****Ready when you are, Ludo," said Fudge comfortably.**

**Ludo whipped out his wand, directed it at his own throat, and said "Sonorus!" and then spoke over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium; his voice echoed over them, booming into every corner of the stands.**

**"****Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!" **

"It's been going on longer than the Olympics." Gwen said.

"Though the Olympics is older than the World Cup." Cris said.

"Really?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"What's that?" Sirius asked.

"It's a series of games where athletes from other countries compete in. In fact this summer is the next Olympics and it's over in America." Gwen said.

"Cool." The group said.

**The spectators screamed and clapped. Thousands of flags waved, adding their discordant national anthems to the racket. The huge blackboard opposite them was wiped clear of its last message (Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans - A Risk With Every Mouthful!) and now showed BULGARIA: 0, IRELAND: 0.**

**"****And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"**

**The right-hand side of the stands, which was a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.**

**"****I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" He suddenly whipped off his glasses and polished them hurriedly on his robes. "Veela!" **

"What's that?" Gwen asked.

"A creature that can put men under their control and make them do stupid things." Cris said.

"That's certainly one way to put it." Victoire said blushing slightly.

"Are you part Veela?" Gwen asked the blushing future time traveler.

"Yes, my mum is part is a quarter Veela." Victoire said. Bill blushed at that and his brothers and the pranksters in the room wolf whistled.

**"What are veel -?"**

**But a hundred Veela were now gliding out onto the field, and Cris' question was answered for her. Veela were women… no they weren't really women, Cris studied them closely and they had a moonlit glow about them.**

"**That's it?" Ginny asked who was sitting next to Hermione. Suddenly Ron stood up next to Cris and he looked like he was about to do something stupid. **

"**Ron!" Hermione screamed. He looked ready to jump out of the box. Cris jumped up and stood in front of him and slapped him across the face. The dreamy look on his face vanished and he yelped rubbing his cheek where Cris slapped him.**

"That's one way to do it." Charlie said laughing.

"What, he looked ready to jump." Cris said with a simple shrug.

"It hurt." Ron said.

"It brought you around." Cris said.

**Angry yells were filling the stadium. The crowd didn't want the Veela to go. Ron, meanwhile, was absentmindedly shredding the shamrocks on his hat. Mr. Weasley, smiling slightly, leaned over to Ron and tugged the hat out of his hands.**

**"You'll be wanting that," he said, "once Ireland have had their say."**

**"Huh?" said Ron, staring openmouthed at the Veela, who had now lined up along one side of the field.**

**Hermione made a loud tutting noise. **

**She reached up and pulled Cris back into her seat. "Honestly!" she said. **

"I was trying to find out if I could spot what the Irish brought with them." Cris said.

"Sorry," Hermione said.

"It's alright." Cris said with a cheeky smile.

"So the Veela don't affect girls?" Gwen asked.

"No," the group said.

**"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air… for the Irish National Team Mascots!"**

**Next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium, then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow arced suddenly across the field, connecting the two balls of light. The crowd oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. Now the rainbow faded and the balls of light reunited and merged; they had formed a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Something like golden rain seemed to be falling from it –**

**"Excellent!" yelled Ron as the shamrock soared over them, and heavy gold coins rained from it, bouncing off their heads and seats. Squinting up at the shamrock, Cris realized that it was actually comprised of thousands of tiny little bearded men with red vests, each carrying a minute lamp of gold or green.**

**"Leprechauns!" said Mr. Weasley over the tumultuous applause of the crowd, many of whom were still fighting and rummaging around under their chairs to retrieve the gold. **

"It'll just vanish in a few hours." Robin said.

"Really?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, it seems like some people don't know that." Robin said. Rob blushed and the twins huffed and crossed their arms mumbling about cursing Bagman.

**"There you go," Ron yelled happily, stuffing a fistful of gold coins into Cris' hand, "for the Omnioculars! Now you've got to buy me a Christmas present, ha!"**

**The great shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the Veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.**

**"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov!"**

**A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.**

**"Ivanova!"**

**A second scarlet-robed player zoomed out.**

**"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!"**

**"That's him, that's him!" yelled Ron, following Krum with his Omnioculars. Cris quickly focused his own.**

**Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey. It was hard to believe he was only eighteen. **

"Is he good looking?" Gwen asked. The girls chuckled and Cris looked to Hermione and she sighed.

"He is very nice, a perfect gentlemen and very shy." Hermione said.

"I can live with that." Gwen said.

"That's really young to be a professional player." Prongs said.

"Wait until he finds out that he is still in school." Cris whispered to her daughter and Lily J giggled a bit and nodded.

**"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled Bagman. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!"**

**Seven green blurs swept onto the field; Cris spun a small dial on the side of her Omnioculars and slowed the players down enough to read the word "Firebolt" on each of their brooms and see their names, embroidered in silver, upon their backs. **

"You might want to change it back pup." Sirius said. Cris blushed again and Sirius smiled brightly at her.

**"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"**

**A small and skinny wizard, completely bald but with a mustache to rival Uncle Vernon's, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the mustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broomstick under the other.**

**Cris spun the speed dial on her Omnioculars back to normal, watching closely as Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open - four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black Bludgers, and (Cris saw it for the briefest moment, before it sped out of sight) the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. **

"You could see it?" Charlie asked, when she nodded he looked like he was kicked in the gut. "I couldn't even see it."

**With a sharp blast on his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.**

**"Theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!"**

**It was Quidditch as Cris had never seen it played before. She was pressing her Omnioculars so hard to her glasses that they were cutting into the bridge of her nose. The speed of the players was incredible - the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to one another so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names.**

"But I like the commentary." Gwen said pouting slightly.

"When it's professional it's all a lot faster." Tonks said.

"No kidding." Gwen said.

**Cris spun the slow dial on the right of her Omnioculars again, pressed the play by- play button on the top, **

"Not a good idea Prongslet, you're going to miss something." Prongs said.

**and she was immediately watching in slow motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across the lenses and the noise of the crowd pounded against her eardrums.**

**HAWKSHEAD ATTACKING FORMATION, she read as she watched the three Irish Chasers zoom closely together, Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. PORSKOFF PLOY flashed up next, as Troy made as though to dart upward with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova and dropping the Quaffle to Moran. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it - "TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"**

**"What?" Cris yelled, looking wildly around through her Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"**

**"Cris, if you're not going to watch at normal speed, you're going to miss things!" shouted Hermione, who was dancing up and down, waving her arms in the air while Troy did a lap of honor around the field. **

"It was the atmosphere." Hermione said simply.

"Sure," the twins said with a grin.

"It was!" Hermione cried.

**Cris looked quickly over the top of his Omnioculars and saw that the leprechauns watching from the sidelines had all risen into the air again and formed the great, glittering shamrock. Across the field, the Veela were watching them sulkily.**

**Furious with herself, Cris spun her speed dial back to normal as play resumed.**

**Cris knew enough about Quidditch to see that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, their movements so well coordinated that they appeared to be reading one another's minds as they positioned themselves, and the rosette on Cris' chest kept squeaking their names: "Troy - Mullet - Moran!" And within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing their lead to thirty-zero and causing a thunderous tide of roars and applause from the green clad supporters.**

**The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the Keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.**

"Finally," Gwen said. They looked at her and she quirked an eyebrow at them.

"What? It's my future husband's team, why not cheer for them." Gwen said.

"Good point," Cris said with a smile.

**"Fingers in your ears!" bellowed Mr. Weasley as the Veela started to dance in celebration. Cris screwed up his eyes too; she wanted to keep her mind on the game, not try and stop Ron from doing something stupid again. **

"Oi!"

"What? It's true." Cris said. Ron blushed brightly to match his hair and Snape continued reading.

**After a few seconds, she chanced a glance at the field. The Veela had stopped dancing, and Bulgaria was again in possession of the Quaffle.**

**"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh I say!" roared Bagman. One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from airplanes without parachutes. Cris followed their descent through his Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was –**

**"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione next to Cris.**

**She was half right - at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiraled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. A huge groan rose from the Irish seats. **

"It was a feint?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Cris said.

**"Fool!" moaned Mr. Weasley. "Krum was feinting!"**

**"It's time-out!" yelled Bagman's voice, "as trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"**

"Is he okay?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, but injuries are common in Quidditch." Charlie said.

**"He'll be okay, he only got ploughed!" Charlie said reassuringly to Ginny, who was hanging over the side of the box, looking horror-struck. "Which is what Krum was after, of course…"**

"Sorry," Charlie said as his sister glared at him.

**Cris hastily pressed the replay and play-by-play buttons on her Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, and put them back up to her eyes. She watched as Krum and Lynch dived again in slow motion. WRONSKI DEFENSIVE FEINT - DANGEROUS SEEKER DIVERSION read the shining purple lettering across her lenses. She saw Krum's face contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and she understood - Krum hadn't seen the Snitch at all, he was just making Lynch copy him. Cris had never seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he was using a broomstick at all; **

"You look like that too." Fred whispered in her ear. George nodded and she blushed brightly and hid in George's chest.

**he moved so easily through the air that he looked unsupported and weightless. Cris turned her Omnioculars back to normal and focused them on Krum. He was now circling high above Lynch, who was being revived by mediwizards with cups of potion. Cris, focusing still more closely upon Krum's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.**

"Good tactic," said the former Quidditch Captains in the room.

**Lynch got to his feet at last, to loud cheers from the green-clad supporters, mounted his Firebolt, and kicked back off into the air. His revival seemed to give Ireland new heart. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivaled by anything Cris had seen so far.**

**After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. **

"Wow, their good." Gwen said.

"No kidding, is the Bulgarian keeper sleeping or does he just suck?" Sirius asked.

"I wasn't paying attention to the keepers so I wouldn't know." Cris said.

**They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier. As Mullet shot toward the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly Cris didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told her it had been a foul.**

**"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing — excessive use of elbows!" Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!" **

"This sure is a penalty ridden game." Gwen said.

"It seems like it doesn't it." Lily said.

**The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "HA, HA, HA!" The Veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance again.**

**As one, the Weasley boys stuffed their fingers into their ears, but Hermione and Cris, who hadn't bothered, was soon tugging on Cris' arm. she turned to look at her.**

**"Look at the referee!" she said, giggling.**

**Cris looked down at the field. Hassan Mostafa had landed right in front of the dancing Veela, and was acting very oddly indeed. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly. **

"Oh dear," Robin said.

"That's not good." Sirius said.

**"Now, we can't have that!" said Ludo Bagman, though he sounded highly amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"**

"Get Cris to do it." Tonks said.

"I would have but it would have taken me a while to get down there." Cris said with a smile.

**A mediwizard came tearing across the field; his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked Mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself; Cris, watching through the Omnioculars again, saw that he looked exceptionally embarrassed and had started shouting at the Veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.**

**"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said Bagman's voice. "Now there's something we haven't seen before… Oh this could turn nasty…"**

"No kidding," Victoire mumbled, her temper and her mothers and grandmothers were really terrible.

**It did: The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, landed on either side of Mostafa and began arguing furiously with him, gesticulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Mostafa was not impressed by the Bulgarians' arguments, however; he was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again, and when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.**

**"Two penalties for Ireland!" shouted Bagman, and the Bulgarian crowd howled with anger. "And Volkov and Vulchanov had better get back on those brooms… yes… there they go… and Troy takes the Quaffle." **

**Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.**

**"Foul!" roared the Irish supporters as one, all standing up in a great wave of green. "Foul!" echoed Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice. "Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"**

"It's almost as many fouls as your Quidditch Final in third year." Gwen said.

"It seems like it doesn't?" Cris said with a smile.

**The leprechauns had risen into the air again, and this time, they formed a giant hand, which was making a very rude sign indeed at the Veela across the field. At this, the Veela lost control. Instead of dancing, they launched themselves across the field and began throwing what seemed to be handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. Watching through her Omnioculars, Cris saw that they didn't look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel beaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders – **

"You can't do that can you?" Gwen and Bill asked Victoire.

"No, just my great grandmother, although I do have an affinity with fire." Victoire said. Bill looked like he sighed in relief as Snape continued reading.

**"And that, boys," yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, "is why you should never go for looks alone!"**

**Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the Veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one taking place above. Cris turned this way and that, staring through her Omnioculars, as the Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a bullet.**

**"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"**

**But the cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the Veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians. **

**The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov - The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible toward Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him full in the face.**

"Ouch," people said.

**There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Cris couldn't blame him; one of the Veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broom tail alight.**

**Cris wanted someone to realize that Krum was injured; even though she was supporting Ireland, Krum was the most exciting player on the field. Ron obviously felt the same.**

**"Time-out! Ah, come on, he can't play like that, look at him -"**

**"Look at Lynch!" Cris yelled.**

**For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Cris was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing…**

"Come on!" cried the Quidditch fans.

**"He's seen the Snitch!" Cris shouted. "He's seen it! Look at him go!" Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening; the Irish supporters rose in another great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on… but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Cris had no idea; **

"You did it yourself." Sirius said.

"Yes, but I had a broken elbow not a nose." Cris said.

"How did that happen, wait let me guess, a bludger." Gwen said.

"Correct." Cris said smiling at her friend.

**there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now as the pair of them hurtled toward the ground again -**

**"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.**

**"They're not!" roared Ron.**

**"Lynch is!" yelled Cris.**

**And she was right - for the second time, Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry Veela.**

"He doesn't like a good seeker." Gwen said.

"You can't be perfect all the time." Cris said with a shrug.

**"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Charlie, along the row.**

**"He's got it - Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Cris.**

"So Bulgaria won?" Gwen asked.

"Depends, whereas the snitch gets you 150 extra points it usually a guaranteed win though we need to count in the all the points." Teddy said. Gwen nodded her head and Snape continued reading.

**Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.**

**The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: 160, IRELAND: 170 across the crowd, **

"You got you're bet." Padfoot said.

"It's a talent." George said.

**who didn't seem to have realized what had happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet were revving up, the rumbling from the Ireland supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.**

**"IRELAND WINS!" Bagman shouted, who like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match.**

**"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS — good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!" **

"Dad and Papa were." James said.

**"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Ron bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with his hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"**

"Bulgaria wasn't going to win it; Ireland's chasers are too good." Moony said.

**"He knew they were never going to catch up!" Cris shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly. "The Irish Chasers were too good… He wanted to end it on his terms, that's all…"**

**"He was very brave, wasn't he?" Hermione said, leaning forward to watch Krum land as a swarm of mediwizards blasted a path through the battling leprechauns and Veela to get to him. "He looks a terrible mess…"**

"Well it is a dangerous sport." Mrs. Weasley said.

"That's what makes it fun." Charlie said.

"If you say so." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris put her Omnioculars to her eyes again. It was hard to see what was happening below, because leprechauns were zooming delightedly all over the field, but she could just make out Krum, surrounded by mediwizards. He looked surlier than ever and refused to let them mop him up. His team members were around him, shaking their heads and looking dejected; a short way away, the Irish players were dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots.**

**Flags were waving all over the stadium, the Irish national anthem blared from all sides; the Veela were shrinking back into their usual, beautiful selves now, though looking dispirited and forlorn.**

**"Vell, ve fought bravely," said a gloomy voice behind Cris. She looked around; it was the Bulgarian Minister of Magic. **

"He could speak English the entire time?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Cris said with a giggle.

**"You can speak English!" said Fudge, sounding outraged. "And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"**

**"Vell, it vos very funny," said the Bulgarian minister, shrugging. **

"It was," Ron said laughing as Fudge blushed.

**"And as the Irish team performs a lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the Top Box!" roared Bagman.**

**Cris' eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, she saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still looking very disgruntled that he'd been using sign language all day for nothing.**

"Oh well, everyone is allowed to have their fun." Gwen said with a simple girl.

**"Let's have a really loud hand for the gallant losers - Bulgaria!" Bagman shouted.**

**And up the stairs into the box came the seven defeated Bulgarian players. The crowd below was applauding appreciatively; Cris could see thousands and thousands of Omniocular lenses flashing and winking in their direction.**

**One by one, the Bulgarians filed between the rows of seats in the box, and Bagman called out the name of each as they shook hands with their own minister and then with Fudge. Krum, who was last in line, looked a real mess. Two black eyes were blooming spectacularly on his bloody face. He was still holding the Snitch. Cris noticed that he seemed much less coordinated on the ground.**

"It happens with good flyers." Prongs said.

"But I not clumsy on the ground." Cris said confused.

"Some have the same amount of coordination as they do in the air."Padfoot said.

**He was slightly duck-footed and distinctly round-shouldered. But when Krum's name was announced, the whole stadium gave him a resounding, earsplitting roar.**

**And then came the Irish team. Aidan Lynch was being supported by Moran and Connolly; the second crash seemed to have dazed him and his eyes looked strangely unfocused. But he grinned happily as Troy and Quigley lifted the Cup into the air and the crowd below thundered its approval. Cris' hands were numb with clapping.**

**At last, when the Irish team had left the box to perform another lap of honor on their brooms (Aidan Lynch on the back of Connolly's, clutching hard around his waist and still grinning in a bemused sort of way), Bagman pointed his wand at his throat and muttered, "Quietus."**

**"They'll be talking about this one for years," he said hoarsely, **

"They do," the future kids said. The rest of the room knew why but didn't say anything.

**"a really unexpected twist, that… shame it couldn't have lasted longer… Ah yes… yes, I owe you… how much?"**

**For Fred and George had just scrambled over the backs of their seats and were standing in front of Ludo Bagman with broad grins on their faces, their hands outstretched.**

"At least you won your bet." Robin said. They looked at their faces and laughed.

"He gave leprechaun gold didn't he?" Sirius asked. They nodded and Snape closed the book. He handed it to Moody and he started the next chapter.


	11. Chapter 9: The Dark Mark

"**Chapter 9: The Dark Mark," **Moody read.

"What is that?" Gwen asked seeing the look of dread fill the occupants in the room.

"It's the mark of Voldemort." Sirius said quietly. Gwen's mouth formed an 'o' and Moody started the chapter.

**"****Don't tell your mother you've been gambling," Mr. Weasley implored Fred and George as they all made their way slowly down the purple-carpeted stairs.**

**"Don't worry, Dad," said Fred gleefully, "we've got big plans for this money. We don't want it confiscated."**

"What are the plans?" Padfoot asked.

"Something you'll find out later." Fred said with a smirk.

**Mr. Weasley looked for a moment as though he was going to ask what these big plans were, but seemed to decide, upon reflection, that he didn't want to know.**

"No, I really didn't but if I could guess it would be the joke shop." Mr. Weasley said.

"Then you,"

"Would be right,"

"Dearest Grandfather." Lily J and James said. Their grandparents shook their heads but had a smile on their faces; they acted like Fred and George.

**They were soon caught up in the crowds now flooding out of the stadium and back to their campsites. Raucous singing was borne toward them on the night air as they retraced their steps along the lantern-lit path, and leprechauns kept shooting over their heads, cackling and waving their lanterns. When they finally reached the tents, nobody felt like sleeping at all, and given the level of noise around them, Mr. Weasley agreed that they could all have one last cup of cocoa together before turning in. They were soon arguing enjoyably about the match; Mr. Weasley got drawn into a disagreement about cobbing with Charlie, and it was only when Ginny fell asleep right at the tiny table and spilled hot chocolate all over the floor that Mr. Weasley called a halt to the verbal replays and insisted that everyone go to bed. **

**Hermione, Ginny and Cris went into the next tent, Hermione and Cris were giggling talking about boys until Hermione drifted off.**

**From the other side of the campsite they could still hear much singing and the odd echoing bang.**

**"****Oh I am glad I'm not on duty," muttered Mr. Weasley sleepily. "I wouldn't fancy having to go and tell the Irish they've got to stop celebrating." **

"How did you hear that?" Bill asked.

"I have excellent hearing." Cris said with a smile.

**Cris, who was on a top bunk above Hermione, lay staring up at the canvas ceiling of the tent, watching the glow of an occasional leprechaun lantern flying overhead, and picturing again some of Krum's more spectacular moves. She was itching to get back on her own Firebolt and try out the Wronski Feint…**

"How did I know you wanted to do that?" Hermione asked shaking her head.

"Because it's me I do crazy stunts." Cris said.

"That you do." Ginny said with a smile.

**Somehow Oliver Wood had never managed to convey with all his wriggling diagrams what that move was supposed to look like… Cris saw herself in robes that had her name on the back, and imagined the sensation of hearing a hundred-thousand-strong crowd roar, as Ludo Bagman's voice echoed throughout the stadium, "I give you… Potter!"**

"That's a good dream." Padfoot said.

"Better than some of the dreams I've had." Cris said.

**Cris never knew whether or not she had actually dropped off to sleep – her fantasies of flying like Krum might well have slipped into actual dreams - all she knew was that, quite suddenly, Mr. Weasley was shouting.**

**"****Get up! Hermione - Cris – Ginny- come on now, get up, this is urgent!" **

"What's going on?" Lily asked.

"Whatever it is, it's not good." Prongs said.

**Cris sat up quickly and the top of her head hit canvas.**

**"****S' matter?" she said.**

**Dimly, she could tell that something was wrong. The noises in the campsite had changed. The singing had stopped. She could hear screams, and the sound of people running. She slipped down from the bunk and reached for her clothes, but Mr. Weasley, who had pulled on his jeans over his own pajamas, said, "No time, Cris - just grab a jacket and get outside - quickly!"**

**Cris did as she was told and hurried out of the tent, Hermione and Ginny at her heels. By the light of the few fires that were still burning, she could see people running away into the woods, fleeing something that was moving across the field toward them, something that was emitting odd flashes of light and noises like gunfire.**

**Loud jeering, roars of laughter, and drunken yells were drifting toward them; then came a burst of strong green light, **

"It wasn't the killing curse was it?" Lily asked.

"No, they just wanted to make it look like it was." Mr. Weasley said.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I didn't want you to worry." Mr. Weasley said.

**which illuminated the scene. A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upward, was marching slowly across the field. Cris squinted at them… They didn't seem to have faces… Then she realized that their heads were hooded and their faces masked. **

"Death Eaters," Sirius said, "the ones who escaped Azkaban anyway."

"Are they Voldemort's followers?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," the group said.

**High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air.**

"My god," Gwen said wide eyed.

"That's disgusting," Lily said.

**Two of the figures were very small. More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Cris saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder. **

"Nobody died did they?" Scarlett asked.

"No, the screaming was the little kids and the adults; they were all able to get out of their tents." Mr. Weasley said.

**The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent and Cris recognized one of them: Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee.**

Inhumanly growls could be heard around the room.

**"****That's sick," Ron muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "That is really sick…"**

Disgust filled the faces of people and Cris' hair turned to dark purple.

**Hermione and Ginny came hurrying toward them, pulling coats over their nightdresses, with Mr. Weasley right behind them. At the same moment, Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the boys' tent, fully dressed, with their sleeves rolled up and their wands out.**

**"We're going to help the Ministry!" Mr. Weasley shouted over all the noise, rolling up his own sleeves. "You lot - get into the woods, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!" **

"Just don't get separated." Robin said.

**Bill, Charlie, and Percy were already sprinting away toward the oncoming marchers; Mr. Weasley tore after them.**

"So it's just you three, Fred, George and Ginny in the woods, I hope you don't lose each other." Tonks said.

**Ministry wizards were dashing from every direction toward the source of the trouble. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was coming ever closer.**

**"****C'mon," said Fred, grabbing Ginny's hand and starting to pull her toward the wood. Cris, Ron, Hermione, and George followed. They all looked back as they reached the trees. The crowd beneath the Roberts family was larger than ever; they could see the Ministry wizards trying to get through it to the hooded wizards in the center, but they were having great difficulty. It looked as though they were scared to perform any spell that might make the Roberts family fall.**

"I can understand that," Remus said.

**The colored lanterns that had lit the path to the stadium had been extinguished. Dark figures were blundering through the trees; children were crying; anxious shouts and panicked voices were reverberating around them in the cold night air.**

**Cris felt herself being pushed hither and thither by people whose faces she could not see. Then she heard Ron yell with pain.**

**"****What happened?" said Hermione anxiously, stopping so abruptly that Cris walked into her. "Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid - lumos!"**

"Aren't you not allowed to do that?" Gwen asked.

"No but under certain circumstances like this one we can besides there other witches and wizards around that they can't really prove that she did cast a spell." Robin said.

"Oh, that makes sense." Gwen said.

**She illuminated her wand and directed its narrow beam across the path. Ron was lying sprawled on the ground.**

**"****Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily, getting to his feet again.**

**"****Well, with feet that size, hard not to," said a drawling voice from behind them.**

"Two guesses who." Padfoot said.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione turned sharply. Draco Malfoy was standing alone nearby, leaning against a tree, looking utterly relaxed. **

"Inside I was panicking, I heard my parents arguing and went into the woods, shortly before the riot started." Draco said.

"So was your dad a part of it?" Fred asked.

"More than likely, when we got home he seemed very pleased with himself." Draco said.

"Sounds like him." Mr. Weasley said.

**His arms folded, he seemed to have been watching the scene at the campsite through a gap in the trees. Ron told Malfoy to do something that Cris knew he would never have dared say in front of Mrs. Weasley.**

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. Ron didn't say anything so Moody continued reading.

**"****Language, Weasley," said Malfoy, his pale eyes glittering. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like her spotted, would you?"**

**He nodded at Hermione, and at the same moment, a blast like a bomb sounded from the campsite, and a flash of green light momentarily lit the trees around them.**

**"****What's that supposed to mean?" said Hermione defiantly.**

**"****Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy. "D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around… they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh." **

"But Hermione isn't a Muggle." Gwen said.

"I was being very, very stupid." Draco said.

"No kidding," Gwen said.

**"****Hermione's a witch," Cris snarled.**

**"****Have it your own way, Potter," said Malfoy, grinning maliciously. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."**

**"****You watch your mouth!" shouted Ron. Everybody present knew that "Mudblood" was a very offensive term for a witch or wizard of Muggle parentage.**

**"****Never mind, Ron," said Hermione quickly, seizing Ron's arm to restrain him as he took a step toward Malfoy. There came a bang from the other side of the trees that was louder than anything they had heard several people nearby screamed. Malfoy chuckled softly.**

**"****Scare easily, don't they?" he said lazily. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggles?"**

"Better than what your parents are doing." Lily said.

**"****Where're your parents?" said Cris, her temper rising. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"**

"Not a very smart thing to say cub." Remus said.

"Sorry," Cris said with a slight smile.

**Malfoy turned his face to Cris, still smiling.**

**"****Well… if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"**

**"****Oh come on," said Hermione, with a disgusted look at Malfoy, "let's go and find the others."**

**"****Keep that big bushy head down, Granger," sneered Malfoy.**

**"****Come on," Hermione repeated, and she pulled Cris and Ron up the path again.**

**"****I'll bet you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" said Ron hotly.**

**"****Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him!" said Hermione fervently. "Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"**

"Great, just what you need." Sirius said.

"We were worried but we had to look after Ginny and we didn't want to get separated further." George said.

"That was a smart thing to do, besides if anything, those three can take care of themselves." Bill said.

**Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite. A huddle of teenagers in pajamas was arguing vociferously a little way along the path. When they saw Cris, Ron, and Hermione, a girl with thick curly hair turned and said quickly,**

**"Oü est Madame Maxime? Nous l'avons perdue -"**

**"Er - what?" said Ron.**

**"Oh…" The girl who had spoken turned her back on him, and as they walked on they distinctly heard her say, "Ogwarts." **

"So they go to Beauxbatons." Lily said.

"Yeah," the trio said.

**"Beauxbatons," muttered Cris.**

**"Sorry?" said Ron.**

**"They must go to Beauxbatons," said Hermione. "You know… Beauxbatons Academy of Magic… I read about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe." **

"What haven't the two of you read?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Hermione and Cris said.

**"Oh… yeah… right," said Ron.**

**"Fred and George can't have gone that far," said Hermione, pulling out his wand, lighting it like Hermione's, and squinting up the path. Cris dug in the pockets of her jacket for her own wand - but it wasn't there. The only thing she could find was her Omnioculars.**

"What happened to your wand?" Lily asked horrified.

"This is bad," Prongs muttered, now really worried for his daughter's safety.

**"Ah, no, I don't believe it… I've lost my wand!"**

**"You're kidding!"**

**Ron and Hermione raised their wands high enough to spread the narrow beams of light farther on the ground; Cris looked all around her, but her wand was nowhere to be seen.**

"Maybe it's in the tent." Gwen said.

"Hopefully," Lily said.

**"Maybe it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione suggested anxiously.**

**"Yeah," said Cris, "maybe…**

**She usually kept her wand with her at all times in the wizarding world, and finding herself without it in the midst of a scene like this made her feel very vulnerable. A rustling noise nearby made all three of them jump. Winky the house-elf was fighting her way out of a clump of bushes nearby. She was moving in a most peculiar fashion, apparently with great difficulty; it was as though someone invisible were trying to hold her back.**

"Or being held by someone invisible." Cris mumbled. Remus and Moony as well as Teddy heard but didn't say anything else.

**"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked distractedly as she leaned forward and labored to keep running. "People high - high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!"**

**And she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the path, panting and squeaking as she fought the force that was restraining her. **

"Poor Winky," Gwen said.

**"What's up with her?" said Ron, looking curiously after Winky. "Why can't she run properly?"**

**"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," said Cris. She was thinking of Dobby: Every time he had tried to do something the Malfoy's wouldn't like, the house-elf had been forced to start beating himself up. **

"Poor Dobby," Gwen said glaring at Draco who was sitting next to her.

**"You know, house-elves get a very raw deal!" said Hermione indignantly. "It's slavery, that's what it is! That Mr. Crouch made her go up to the top of the stadium, and she was terrified, and he's got her bewitched so she can't even run when they start trampling tents! Why doesn't anyone do something about it?"**

**"Well, the elves are happy, aren't they?" Ron said. "You heard old Winky back at the match… 'House-elves is not supposed to have fun'… that's what she likes, being bossed around…"**

**"It's people like you, Ron," Hermione began hotly, "who prop up rotten and unjust systems, just because they're too lazy to -"**

"Why did you stop?" Sirius asked.

"Something interrupted us and I forgot what I was going to say." Hermione said.

"It's okay," Ron said.

**Another loud bang echoed from the edge of the wood.**

**"Let's just keep moving, shall we?" said Ron, and Cris saw him glance edgily at Hermione. Perhaps there was truth in what Malfoy had said; perhaps Hermione was in more danger than they were. **

**They set off again, Cris still searching her pockets, even though she knew her wand wasn't there. They followed the dark path deeper into the wood, still keeping an eye out for Fred, George, and Ginny. They passed a group of goblins who were cackling over a sack of gold that they had undoubtedly won betting on the match, and who seemed quite unperturbed by the trouble at the campsite. Farther still along the path, they walked into a patch of silvery light, and when they looked through the trees, they saw three tall and beautiful Veela standing in a clearing, surrounded by a gaggle of young wizards, all of whom were talking very loudly. **

"Good grief, not again." Bill said.

"Do you slap Ron again?" Charlie asked rubbing his hands together.

**"I pull down about a hundred sacks of Galleons a year!" one of them shouted. "I'm a dragon killer for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures."**

**"No, you're not!" yelled his friend. "You're a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron… but I'm a vampire hunter, I've killed about ninety so far -"**

**A third young wizard, whose pimples were visible even by the dim, silvery light of the Veela, now cut in, "I'm about to become the youngest ever Minister of Magic, I am."**

**Cris snorted with laughter. She recognized the pimply wizard: His name was Stan Shunpike, and he was in fact a conductor on the triple-decker Knight Bus. She turned to tell Ron this, but Ron's face had gone oddly slack, and next second Ron was yelling, "Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?" **

"That would be awesome!" Prongs exclaimed.

"You seem to be easily susceptible to their charms." Remus said. Ron blushed brightly and Moody continued reading.

**"Honestly!" said Hermione, and she and Cris grabbed Ron firmly by the arms, wheeled him around, and marched him away. By the time the sounds of the Veela and their admirers had faded completely, they were in the very heart of the wood. They seemed to be alone now; everything was much quieter.**

**Cris looked around. "I reckon we can just wait here, you know. We'll hear anyone coming a mile off."**

**The words were hardly out of her mouth, when Ludo Bagman emerged from behind a tree right ahead of them.**

"What is he doing out there?" Moody asked suspiciously.

"He's not running away, is he?" Sirius asked.

**Even by the feeble light of the two wands, Cris could see that a great change had come over Bagman. He no longer looked buoyant and rosy-faced; there was no more spring in his step. He looked very white and strained.**

"Well the campsite is being attacked." Tonks said.

**"Who's that?" he said, blinking down at them, trying to make out their faces. "What are you doing in here, all alone?"**

**They looked at one another, surprised.**

**"Well - there's a sort of riot going on," said Ron.**

**Bagman stared at him.**

**"What?"**

**"At the campsite… some people have got hold of a family of Muggles…**

**Bagman swore loudly.**

**"Damn them!" he said, looking quite distracted, and without another word, he Disapparated with a small pop!**

"He didn't know about the attack?" Sirius asked.

Well at least he is going to help now." Remus said.

**"Not exactly on top of things, Mr. Bagman, is he?" said Hermione, frowning.**

**"He was a great Beater, though," said Ron, leading the way off the path into a small clearing, and sitting down on a patch of dry grass at the foot of a tree. "The Wimbourne Wasps won the league three times in a row while he was with them." **

**He took his small figure of Krum out of his pocket, set it down on the ground, and watched it walk around. Like the real Krum, the model was slightly duck-footed and round-shouldered, much less impressive on his splayed feet than on his broomstick. Cris was listening for noise from the campsite. Everything seemed much quieter; perhaps the riot was over.**

"Let's hope so." Padfoot said.

**"I hope the others are okay," said Hermione after a while.**

**"They'll be fine," said Ron.**

**"Imagine if your dad catches Lucius Malfoy," said Cris, sitting down next to Ron and watching the small figure of Krum slouching over the fallen leaves. "He's always said he'd like to get something on him." **

"Oh I can just imagine it." Sirius said with a wistful smile.

**"That'd wipe the smirk off old Draco's face, all right," said Ron.**

**"Those poor Muggles, though," said Hermione nervously. "What if they can't get them down?"**

**"They will," said Ron reassuringly. "They'll find a way."**

**"Mad, though, to do something like that when the whole Ministry of Magic's out here tonight!" said Hermione. "I mean, how do they expect to get away with it? **

"They were being really stupid about that." Tonks said.

**Do you think they've been drinking, or are they just -"**

"No, they were just being Death Eaters," Hermione told her book self.

"Don't feel bad, we didn't know much about them until this year." Cris said.

**But she broke off abruptly and looked over her shoulder. Cris and Ron looked quickly around too. It sounded as though someone was staggering toward their clearing. They waited, listening to the sounds of the uneven steps behind the dark trees. But the footsteps came to a sudden halt.**

**"Hello?" called Cris.**

"Don't do that," Remus said.

"Just stay quiet." Sirius said.

**There was silence. Cris got to her feet and peered around the tree. It was too dark to see very far, but she could sense somebody standing just beyond the range of her vision.**

**"Who's there?" she said.**

"Please Bambi, just stay quiet." Fred said gripping her arm.

**And then, without warning, the silence was rent by a voice unlike any they had heard in the wood; and it uttered, not a panicked shout, but what sounded like a spell.**

**"MORSMORDRE!"**

"That's the spell," Sirius began

**And something vast, green, and glittering erupted from the patch of darkness Cris' eyes had been struggling to penetrate; it flew up over the treetops and into the sky.**

"Please don't let anyone be dead." Lily said. But others in the room knew no one died but at the time they had feared that someone had.

**"What the -?" gasped Ron as he sprang to his feet again, staring up at the thing that had appeared.**

"So you didn't know what it was?" Sirius asked.

"Mum and dad never really liked talking about it." Ron said.

"That's understandable." Remus said.

**For a split second, Cris thought it was another leprechaun formation. Then she realized that it was a colossal skull, comprised of what looked like emerald stars, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue.**

"That's their mark?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, and it terrifies people, the only time the mark appears is when someone was killed by a Death Eater of Voldemort himself." Sirius said.

**As they watched, it rose higher and higher, blazing in a haze of greenish smoke, etched against the black sky like a new constellation.**

**Suddenly, the wood all around them erupted with screams. Cris didn't understand why, but the only possible cause was the sudden appearance of the skull, which had now risen high enough to illuminate the entire wood like some grisly neon sign. She scanned the darkness for the person who had conjured the skull, but she couldn't see anyone.**

"They might have apparated away." Remus said.

"Or were hidden under an invisibility cloak." Cris murmured.

**"Who's there?" she called again.**

**"Cris, come on, move!" Hermione had seized the collar of her jacket and was tugging her backward.**

"Good get the hell out of there." Padfoot said.

**"What's the matter?" Cris said, startled to see her face so white and terrified.**

**"It's the Dark Mark, Cris!" Hermione moaned, pulling her as hard as she could. "You-Know-Who's sign!" **

"To be fair, I hadn't read the book that Hermione read yet." Cris said.

"Don't worry about it." Sirius said giving his goddaughter a warm smile.

**"Voldemort's -"**

**"Cris, come on!"**

**Cris turned - Ron was hurriedly scooping up his miniature Krum - the three of them started across the clearing - but before they had taken a few hurried steps, a series of popping noises announced the arrival of twenty wizards, appearing from thin air, surrounding them.**

**Cris whirled around, and in an instant, she registered one fact: Each of these wizards had his wand out, and every wand was pointing right at herself, Ron, and Hermione.**

**Without pausing to think, she yelled, "DUCK!"**

"Good idea," Tonks said.

**She seized the other two and pulled them down onto the ground.**

**"STUPEFY!" roared twenty voices - there was a blinding series of flashes and Cris felt the hair on her head ripple as though a powerful wind had swept the clearing. Raising her head a fraction of an inch she saw jets of fiery red light flying over them from the wizards' wands, crossing one another, bouncing off tree trunks, rebounding into the darkness—**

**"Stop!" yelled a voice he recognized. "STOP! That's my son!"**

"Good Arthur's there." Sirius said.

"He'll get you out of there." Tonks said.

**Cris' hair stopped blowing about. She raised her head a little higher. The wizard in front of her had lowered his wand. She rolled over and saw Mr. Weasley striding toward them, looking terrified.**

**"Ron - Cris" - his voice sounded shaky - "Hermione - are you all right?"**

**"Out of the way, Arthur," said a cold, curt voice.**

"Of course, whoever that is thinks you did it." Padfoot said.

"I bet it's Crouch." Bill said. Cris looked over at him, it was Crouch but it was also his son that casted the mark.

**It was Mr. Crouch. He and the other Ministry wizards were closing in on them. Cris got to her feet to face them. Mr. Crouch's face was taut with rage.**

**"Which of you did it?" he snapped, his sharp eyes darting between them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?"**

"They're just kids; they have no idea how to conjure it." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Doesn't stop him from blaming them." Sirius said darkly.

**"We didn't do that!" said Cris, gesturing up at the skull.**

**"We didn't do anything!" said Ron, who was rubbing his elbow and looking indignantly at his father. "What did you want to attack us for?"**

**"Do not lie, sir!" shouted Mr. Crouch. His wand was still pointing directly at Ron, and his eyes were popping - he looked slightly mad. "You have been discovered at the scene of the crime!" **

"Doesn't mean that they did it though." Gwen said.

"Don't try to understand it Gwen, Crouch is mad." Cris said.

"No kidding," Gwen said.

**"Barty," whispered a witch in a long woolen dressing gown, "they're kids, Barty, they'd never have been able to."**

**"Where did the Mark come from, you three?" said Mr. Weasley quickly.**

**"Over there," said Hermione shakily, pointing at the place where they had heard the voice. "There was someone behind the trees… they shouted words – an incantation -"**

**"Oh, stood over there, did they?" said Mr. Crouch, turning his popping eyes on Hermione now, disbelief etched all over his face. "Said an incantation, did they? You seem very well informed about how that Mark is summoned, missy -"**

"That's because they saw it happen you imbecile." Kingsley said.

"He really is off his rocker." Robin said.

**But none of the Ministry wizards apart from Mr. Crouch seemed to think it remotely likely that Cris, Ron, or Hermione had conjured the skull; on the contrary, at Hermione's words, they had all raised their wands again and were pointing in the direction she had indicated, squinting through the dark trees.**

**"We're too late," said the witch in the woolen dressing gown, shaking her head. "They'll have Disapparated."**

**"I don't think so," said a wizard with a scrubby brown beard. It was Amos Diggory, Cedric's father. "Our Stunners went right through those trees… There's a good chance we got them…" **

"There is a good chance of it though." Charlie said.

'They did get him, but they blame on a house elf instead.' Cris thought with disgust.

**"Amos, be careful!" said a few of the wizards warningly as Mr. Diggory squared his shoulders, raised his wand, marched across the clearing, and disappeared into the darkness. Hermione watched him vanish with her hands over her mouth. A few seconds later, they heard Mr. Diggory shout.**

**"Yes! We got them! There's someone here! Unconscious! It's - but - blimey.."**

**"You've got someone?" shouted Mr. Crouch, sounding highly disbelieving. "Who? Who is it?"**

**They heard snapping twigs, the rustling of leaves, and then crunching footsteps as Mr. Diggory reemerged from behind the trees. He was carrying a tiny, limp figure in his arms. Cris recognized the tea towel at once. It was Winky. **

"Winky?" Robin asked.

"It couldn't have been her, she would need a wand." Prongs said.

**Mr. Crouch did not move or speak as Mr. Diggory deposited his elf on the ground at his feet. The other Ministry wizards were all staring at Mr. Crouch. For a few seconds Crouch remained transfixed, his eyes blazing in his white face as he stared down at Winky. Then he appeared to come to life again.**

"**This - cannot - be," he said jerkily. "No -"**

"Does he think they are going to be blaming him now?" Gwen asked.

"She's his elf," Remus said.

**He moved quickly around Mr. Diggory and strode off toward the place where he had found Winky.**

"**No point, Mr. Crouch," Mr. Diggory called after him. "There's no one else there."**

**But Mr. Crouch did not seem prepared to take his word for it. They could hear him moving around and the rustling of leaves as he pushed the bushes aside, searching.**

"**Bit embarrassing," Mr. Diggory said grimly, looking down at Winky's unconscious form. "Barty Crouch's house-elf… I mean to say…"**

"**Come off it, Amos," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "you don't seriously think it was the elf? The Dark Mark's a wizard's sign. It requires a wand."**

"**Yeah," said Mr. Diggory, "and she had a wand." **

"Where did she get a wand?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know," Draco said.

**"What?" said Mr. Weasley.**

**"Here, look." Mr. Diggory held up a wand and showed it to Mr. Weasley. "Had it in her hand. So that's clause three of the Code of Wand Use broken, for a start. No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand."**

"That isn't right." Gwen said.

"How is that not right my dear?" Umbridge asked in her sickly sweet voice.

"Well think about it from where I'm sitting, even though she is a house-elf she uses magic, wouldn't it be better if she had the use of a wand so she could better control her magic, I think that any creature who can use magic should be able to use a wand so they could hone their magic better." Gwen said.

"You do make a valid point." Remus said with a smile as Gwen blushed.

**Just then there was another pop, and Ludo Bagman Apparated right next to Mr. Weasley. Looking breathless and disorientated, he spun on the spot, goggling upward at the emerald-green skull.**

**"The Dark Mark!" he panted, almost trampling Winky as he turned inquiringly to his colleagues. "Who did it? Did you get them? Barty! What's going on?"**

**Mr. Crouch had returned empty-handed. His face was still ghostly white, and his hands and his toothbrush mustache were both twitching.**

**"Where have you been, Barty?" said Bagman. "Why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving you a seat too - gulping gargoyles!" Bagman had just noticed Winky lying at his feet. "What happened to her?"**

"He seems a little slow," Gwen said.

"He might have taken too many bludgers to the head." Charlie said.

**"I have been busy, Ludo," said Mr. Crouch, still talking in the same jerky fashion, barely moving his lips. "And my elf has been stunned."**

**"Stunned? By you lot, you mean? But why -?"**

"That seems a bit obvious." Tonks said.

**Comprehension dawned suddenly on Bagman's round, shiny face; he looked up at the skull, down at Winky, and then at Mr. Crouch.**

**"No!" he said. "Winky? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't know how! She'd need a wand, for a start!"**

**"And she had one," said Mr. Diggory. "I found her holding one, Ludo. If it's all right with you, Mr. Crouch, I think we should hear what she's got to say for herself." **

"Good, let her defend herself." Gwen said.

**Crouch gave no sign that he had heard Mr. Diggory, but Mr. Diggory seemed to take his silence for assent. He raised his own wand, pointed it at Winky, and said, "Ennervate!"**

**Winky stirred feebly. Her great brown eyes opened and she blinked several times in a bemused sort of way. Watched by the silent wizards, she raised herself shakily into a sitting position.**

**She caught sight of Mr. Diggory's feet, and slowly, tremulously, raised her eyes to stare up into his face; then, more slowly still, she looked up into the sky. Cris could see the floating skull reflected twice in her enormous, glassy eyes. She gave a gasp, looked wildly around the crowded clearing, and burst into terrified sobs.**

**"Elf!" said Mr. Diggory sternly.**

"At least call her by her name." Gwen said.

"That's just how it is Gwen." Robin said.

"That's just not right." Gwen said.

**"Do you know who I am? I'm a member of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures!"**

**Winky began to rock backward and forward on the ground, her breath coming in sharp bursts.**

**Cris was reminded forcibly of Dobby in his moments of terrified disobedience.**

**"As you see, elf, the Dark Mark was conjured here a short while ago," said Mr. Diggory. "And you were discovered moments later, right beneath it! An explanation, if you please!"**

"But she didn't do it, did she?" Gwen asked.

"No," the trio said.

"Did you three recognize the voice?" Sirius asked.

"No, but it was male and human." Ron said after he glanced at his two best friends.

**"I - I - I is not doing it, sir!" Winky gasped. "I is not knowing how, sir!"**

**"You were found with a wand in your hand!" barked Mr. Diggory, brandishing it in front of her. And as the wand caught the green light that was filling the clearing from the skull above, Cris recognized it.**

**"Hey - that's mine!" she said.**

"How did she have your wand?" Lily asked.

"She must have taken it from Cris during the game." Prongs said.

"It seems possible." Lily said.

**Everyone in the clearing looked at her.**

**"Excuse me?" said Mr. Diggory, incredulously.**

**"That's my wand!" said Cris. "I dropped it!"**

**"You dropped it?" repeated Mr. Diggory in disbelief. "Is this a confession? You threw it aside after you conjured the Mark?"**

"Really, does he not have any brains?" Padfoot asked.

"Apparently not." Moony said.

**"Amos, think who you're talking to!" said Mr. Weasley, very angrily. "Is Cristal Potter likely to conjure the Dark Mark?"**

"No, she would never do that and she doesn't know how." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"Er - of course not," mumbled Mr. Diggory. "Sorry… carried away…"**

**"I didn't drop it there, anyway," said Cris, jerking her thumb toward the trees beneath the skull. "I missed it right after we got into the wood."**

**"So," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes hardening as he turned to look at Winky again, cowering at his feet. "You found this wand, eh, elf? And you picked it up and thought you'd have some fun with it, did you?"**

**"I is not doing magic with it, sir!" squealed Winky, tears streaming down the sides of her squashed and bulbous nose. "I is… I is… I is just picking it up, sir! I is not making the Dark Mark, sir, I is not knowing how!"**

"It sounds like a reasonable explanation." Lily said.

"He won't believe it though." Prongs said.

**"It wasn't her!" said Hermione. She looked very nervous, speaking up in front of all these Ministry wizards, yet determined all the same. **

**"Winky's got a squeaky little voice, and the voice we heard doing the incantation was much deeper!" She looked around at Cris and Ron, appealing for their support. "It didn't sound anything like Winky, did it?"**

**"No," said Cris, shaking her head. "It definitely didn't sound like an elf."**

"Listen to them," Lily pleaded.

**"Yeah, it was a human voice," said Ron.**

**"Well, we'll soon see," growled Mr. Diggory, looking unimpressed. "There's a simple way of discovering the last spell a wand performed, elf, did you know that?"**

**Winky trembled and shook her head frantically, her ears flapping, as Mr. Diggory raised his own wand again and placed it tip to tip with Cris'.**

**"Prior Incantato!" roared Mr. Diggory.**

**Cris heard Hermione gasp, horrified, as a gigantic serpent-tongued skull erupted from the point where the two wands met, but it was a mere shadow of the green skull high above them; it looked as though it were made of thick gray smoke: the ghost of a spell. **

"I can't imagine mum's wand casting that spell." James said.

"I know, I just never thought it possible for it to happen." Al said.

**"Deletrius!" Mr. Diggory shouted, and the smoky skull vanished in a wisp of smoke.**

**"So," said Mr. Diggory with a kind of savage triumph, looking down upon Winky, who was still shaking convulsively.**

**"I is not doing it!" she squealed, her eyes rolling in terror. "I is not, I is not, I is not knowing how! I is a good elf, I isn't using wands, I isn't knowing how!"**

**"You've been caught red-handed, elf!" Mr. Diggory roared. "Caught with the guilty wand in your hand!" **

"But it doesn't mean it was her." Gwen said.

"Are you sure that she is a nurse?" Lily asked.

"I like to watch crime shows a lot." Gwen said with a shrug.

**"Amos," said Mr. Weasley loudly, "think about it… precious few wizards know how to do that spell… Where would she have learned it?"**

**"Perhaps Amos is suggesting," said Mr. Crouch, cold anger in every syllable, "that I routinely teach my servants to conjure the Dark Mark?"**

**There was a deeply unpleasant silence. Amos Diggory looked horrified. "Mr. Crouch… not… not at all."**

**"You have now come very close to accusing the two people in this clearing who are least likely to conjure that Mark!" barked Mr. Crouch. "Cristal Potter – and myself. I suppose you are familiar with the girl's story, Amos?"**

**"Of course - everyone knows -" muttered Mr. Diggory, looking highly discomforted.**

**"And I trust you remember the many proofs I have given, over a long career, that I despise and detest the Dark Arts and those who practice them?" Mr. Crouch shouted, his eyes bulging again. **

"I doesn't mean that those who practice them are evil, as long as they are responsible for it and not use it for evil then they are okay." Gwen said.

"That's one way to say that." Remus said with a smile.

**"Mr. Crouch, I - I never suggested you had anything to do with it!" Amos Diggory muttered again, now reddening behind his scrubby brown beard.**

**"If you accuse my elf, you accuse me, Diggory!" shouted Mr. Crouch. "Where else would she have learned to conjure it?"**

**"She - she might've picked it up anywhere -"**

**"Precisely, Amos," said Mr. Weasley. "She might have picked it up anywhere… Winky?" he said kindly, turning to the elf, but she flinched as though he too was shouting at her. "Where exactly did you find Cris' wand?"**

**Winky was twisting the hem of her tea towel so violently that it was fraying beneath her fingers.**

**"I - I is finding it… finding it there, sir…" she whispered, "there… in the trees, sir." **

"But how did it get there?" Charlie asked.

"That's the million galleon question." Tonks said to her best friend.

**"You see, Amos?" said Mr. Weasley. "Whoever conjured the Mark could have Disapparated right after they'd done it, leaving Cris' wand behind. A clever thing to do, not using their own wand, which could have betrayed them. And Winky here had the misfortune to come across the wand moments later and pick it up."**

**"But then, she'd have been only a few feet away from the real culprit!" said Mr. Diggory impatiently. "Elf? Did you see anyone?"**

**Winky began to tremble worse than ever. Her giant eyes flickered from Mr. Diggory, to Ludo Bagman, and onto Mr. Crouch. Then she gulped and said, "I is seeing no one, sir… no one…" **

"See must be protecting someone." Robin said.

"But Crouch couldn't have done it." Sirius said.

"I know, but who?" Robin asked.

**"Amos," said Mr. Crouch curtly, "I am fully aware that, in the ordinary course of events, you would want to take Winky into your department for questioning. I ask you, however, to allow me to deal with her."**

**Mr. Diggory looked as though he didn't think much of this suggestion at all, but it was clear to Cris that Mr. Crouch was such an important member of the Ministry that he did not dare refuse him.**

**"You may rest assured that she will be punished," Mr. Crouch added coldly.**

**"M-m-master…" Winky stammered, looking up at Mr. Crouch, her eyes brimming with tears. "M-m-master, p-p-please…"**

**Mr. Crouch stared back, his face somehow sharpened, each line upon it more deeply etched. There was no pity in his gaze.**

**"Winky has behaved tonight in a manner I would not have believed possible," he said slowly. "I told her to remain in the tent. I told her to stay there while I went to sort out the trouble. And I find that she disobeyed me. This means clothes." **

"Then she'll be free," Gwen said

"But I have a feeling that she won't like that at all." Remus said.

"Some house-elves really like the work though." Robin said.

**"No!" shrieked Winky, prostrating herself at Mr. Crouch's feet. "No, master! Not clothes, not clothes!"**

**Cris knew that the only way to turn a house-elf free was to present it with proper garments. It was pitiful to see the way Winky clutched at her tea towel as she sobbed over Mr. Crouch's feet.**

**"But she was frightened!" Hermione burst out angrily, glaring at Mr. Crouch. "Your elf's scared of heights, and those wizards in masks were levitating people! You can't blame her for wanting to get out of their way!"**

"Doesn't mean anything, she did disobey." Padfoot said.

"Poor Winky," Gwen said.

**Mr. Crouch took a step backward, freeing himself from contact with the elf, whom he was surveying as though she were something filthy and rotten that was contaminating his over-shined shoes.**

**"I have no use for a house-elf who disobeys me," he said coldly, looking over at Hermione. "I have no use for a servant who forgets what is due to her master, and to her master's reputation."**

**Winky was crying so hard that her sobs echoed around the clearing. There was a very nasty silence, which was ended by Mr. Weasley, who said quietly, "Well, I think I'll take my lot back to the tent, if nobody's got any objections. Amos, that wand's told us all it can - if Cris could have it back, please -"**

**Mr. Diggory handed Cris her wand and Cris pocketed it.**

"Now, don't lose it again." Lily said.

"I don't," Cris said.

"Good, that was very bad." Prongs said.

**"Come on, you three," Mr. Weasley said quietly. But Hermione didn't seem to want to move; her eyes were still upon the sobbing elf. "Hermione!" Mr. Weasley said, more urgently. She turned and followed Cris and Ron out of the clearing and off through the trees.**

**"What's going to happen to Winky?" said Hermione, the moment they had left the clearing.**

**"I don't know," said Mr. Weasley.**

**"The way they were treating her!" said Hermione furiously. "Mr. Diggory, calling her 'elf' all the time… and Mr. Crouch! He knows she didn't do it and he's still going to sack her! He didn't care how frightened she'd been, or how upset she was - it was like she wasn't even human!"**

**"Well, she's not," said Ron.**

"Ron, talk about insensitive," Ginny said.

"I've forgiven him." Hermione said kissing Ron's cheek which was as red as his hair.

**Hermione rounded on him.**

**"That doesn't mean she hasn't got feelings, Ron. It's disgusting the way -"**

**"Hermione, I agree with you," said Mr. Weasley quickly, beckoning her on, "but now is not the time to discuss elf rights. I want to get back to the tent as fast as we can. What happened to the others?"**

**"We lost them in the dark," said Ron. "Dad, why was everyone so uptight about that skull thing?" **

The adults in the room looked down; they didn't want to be in Arthur's shoes for this one.

**"I'll explain everything back at the tent," said Mr. Weasley tensely.**

**But when they reached the edge of the wood, their progress was impeded. A large crowd of frightened-looking witches and wizards was congregated there, and when they saw Mr. Weasley coming toward them, many of them surged forward.**

**"What's going on in there?"**

**"Who conjured it?"**

**"Arthur - it's not - Him?"**

"Good grief, were they crowding you?" Robin asked.

"No, not that much, really." Mr. Weasley said.

"That's good," Robin said.

**"Of course it's not Him," said Mr. Weasley impatiently. "We don't know who it was; it looks like they Disapparated. Now excuse me, please, I want to get to bed."**

**He led Cris, Ron, and Hermione through the crowd and back into the campsite.**

**All was quiet now; there was no sign of the masked wizards, though several ruined tents were still smoking.**

**Charlie's head was poking out of the boys' tent.**

**"Dad, what's going on?" he called through the dark. "Fred, George, and Ginny got back okay, but the others -"**

**"I've got them here," said Mr. Weasley, bending down and entering the tent. Cris, Ron, and Hermione entered after him.**

**Bill was sitting at the small kitchen table, holding a bed sheet to his arm, which was bleeding profusely. Charlie had a large rip in his shirt, and Percy was sporting a bloody nose. Fred, George, and Ginny looked unhurt, though shaken. **

"I didn't know what it meant and Fred and George were white as a sheet." Ginny said.

"We remember seeing it over,"

"Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon' house."

"You remember that?" Mrs. Weasley asked white as well. They nodded and Cris hugged them both.

**"Did you get them, Dad?" said Bill sharply. "The person who conjured the Mark?"**

**"No," said Mr. Weasley. "We found Barty Crouch's elf holding Cris' wand, but we're none the wiser about who actually conjured the Mark."**

**"What?" said Bill, Charlie, and Percy together. **

**"Cris' wand?" said Fred.**

**"Mr. Crouch's elf" said Percy, sounding thunderstruck.**

**With some assistance from Cris, Ron, and Hermione, Mr. Weasley explained what had happened in the woods. When they had finished their story, Percy swelled indignantly.**

**"Well, Mr. Crouch is quite right to get rid of an elf like that!" he said. "Running away when he'd expressly told her not to… embarrassing him in front of the whole Ministry… how would that have looked, if she'd been brought up in front of the Department for the Regulation and Control"**

"God, you're an idiot." Gwen said.

"We know," said his brother's and sister.

**"She didn't do anything - she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Hermione snapped at Percy, who looked very taken aback. Hermione had always got on fairly well with Percy - better, indeed, than any of the others.**

"That's because he helped me through the transition from Muggle world to Wizarding." Hermione said. Percy looked away but didn't say anything else.

"It'll be alright." Ron said taking her hand.

**"Hermione, a wizard in Mr. Crouch's position can't afford a house-elf who's going to run amok with a wand!" said Percy pompously, recovering himself.**

**"She didn't run amok!" shouted Hermione. "She just picked it up off the ground!"**

**"Look, can someone just explain what that skull thing was?" said Ron impatiently. "It wasn't hurting anyone… Why's it such a big deal?"**

"I'm sorry," Ron said.

"It's okay, you were curious." Remus said.

**"I told you, it's You-Know-Who's symbol, Ron," said Hermione, before anyone else could answer. "I read about it in The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts."**

**"And it hasn't been seen for thirteen years," said Mr. Weasley quietly. "Of course people panicked… it was almost like seeing You-Know-Who back again."**

**"I don't get it," said Ron, frowning. "I mean… it's still only a shape in the sky…"**

"I know now," Ron said.

"It wasn't over my house was it?" Cris whispered.

"No, Voldemort didn't get a chance to send it up." Remus said. Cris nodded and brought her legs up to her chest and rested her head on Fred's shoulder.

**"Ron, You-Know-Who and his followers sent the Dark Mark into the air whenever they killed," said Mr. Weasley. "The terror it inspired… you have no idea, you're too young. Just picture coming home and finding the Dark Mark hovering over your house, and knowing what you're about to find inside…" Mr. Weasley winced. "Everyone's worst fear… the very worst."**

Mrs. Weasley whimpered and Mr. Weasley brought her to him to comfort her and Victoire rubbed circles on her back.

**There was silence for a moment. Then Bill, removing the sheet from his arm to check on his cut, said, "Well, it didn't help us tonight, whoever conjured it. It scared the Death Eaters away the moment they saw it. They all Disapparated before we'd got near enough to unmask any of them. We caught the Roberts's before they hit the ground, though. They're having their memories modified right now."**

**"Death Eaters?" said Cris. "What are Death Eaters?"**

"It's okay that you don't know, nobody would have told it to you yet." Sirius said.

"Would somebody if I hadn't asked?" Cris asked.

"Yes," Remus said simply.

**"It's what You-Know-Who's supporters called themselves," said Bill. "I think we saw what's left of them tonight - the ones who managed to keep themselves out of Azkaban, anyway."**

**"We can't prove it was them, Bill," said Mr. Weasley. "Though it probably was," he added hopelessly.**

"Why can't you prove it?" Gwen asked.

"Because they paid in order to get out or said that they were put under the Imperious curse." Mr. Weasley said.

"What's the Imperious curse?" Gwen asked.

"It'll explain in a few chapters." Cris said.

**"Yeah, I bet it was!" said Ron suddenly. "Dad, we met Draco Malfoy in the woods, and he as good as told us his dad was one of those nutters in masks! And we all know the Malfoy's were right in with You-Know-Who!"**

**"But what were Voldemort's supporters -" Cris began. Everybody flinched – like most of the wizarding world; the Weasley's always avoided saying Voldemort's name. "Sorry," said Cris quickly. "What were You-Know-Who's supporters up to, levitating Muggles? I mean, what was the point?" **

"Because they found it fun." Dumbledore said.

"That's sick." Gwen said.

"Half of the Muggle killings in the first war were for fun, according to the Death Eaters who killed them." Sirius said. Gwen looked repulsed and Moody continued reading.

**"The point?" said Mr. Weasley with a hollow laugh. "Cris, that's their idea of fun. Half the Muggle killings back when You-Know-Who was in power were done for fun. **

"That's just sick," Gwen said.

"That's what they did though." Sirius said.

"Nobody could stop them?" Gwen asked.

"Only when Voldemort was temporarily defeated did they stop, they had nobody to protect them." Remus said.

**I suppose they had a few drinks tonight and couldn't resist reminding us all that lots of them are still at large. A nice little reunion for them," he finished disgustedly.**

"**But if they were the Death Eaters, why did they Disapparate when they saw the Dark Mark?" said Ron. "They'd have been pleased to see it, wouldn't they?"**

"Not unless they were avoiding Azkaban." Charlie said.

"It looks like they were." Padfoot said.

**"Use your brains, Ron," said Bill. "If they really were Death Eaters, they worked very hard to keep out of Azkaban when You-Know-Who lost power, and told all sorts of lies about him forcing them to kill and torture people. I bet they'd be even more frightened than the rest of us to see him come back. They denied they'd ever been involved with him when he lost his powers, and went back to their daily lives… I don't reckon he'd be over-pleased with them, do you?" **

"No, he would torture them," Sirius said. Cris flinched remembering the night a few months prior to that.

**"So… whoever conjured the Dark Mark…" said Hermione slowly, "were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?"**

"I think I might have been a bight of both." Tonks said.

"It makes sense." Gwen said.

**"Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione," said Mr. Weasley. "But I'll tell you this… it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I'd be very surprised if the person who did it hadn't been a Death Eater once, even if they're not now… Listen, it's very late, and if your mother hears what's happened she'll be worried sick. We'll get a few more hours sleep and then try and get an early Portkey out of here."**

**Cris got back into her bunk with her head buzzing. She knew she ought to feel exhausted: It was nearly three in the morning, but she felt wide-awake – wide awake, and worried.**

**Three days ago - it felt like much longer, but it had only been three days - she had awoken with her scar burning. And tonight, for the first time in thirteen years, Lord Voldemort's mark had appeared in the sky. What did these things mean? She thought of the letter she had written to Sirius before leaving Privet Drive. Would Sirius have gotten it yet? When would he reply? Cris lay looking up at the canvas, but no flying fantasies came to her now to ease her to sleep, and it was a long time after Ginny's snores filled the tent that Cris finally dozed off.**

"I don't snore!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Yes you do," Hermione and Cris said. Ginny blushed brightly and hid in her hair while her brothers chuckled.

"I wouldn't laugh; I could hear your snores as well." Cris said. They blushed brightly as well and the group laughed a bit at that as well.

"That's the chapter," Moody said closing the book and handing it to Kingsley.


	12. Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry

"**Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry," **Kingsley said.

"No kidding, after something like that." Lily said.

"I'm glad I didn't work there." Bill said to Charlie who nodded his head.

**Mr. Weasley woke them after only a few hours sleep. He used magic to pack up the tents, and they left the campsite as quickly as possible, passing Mr. Roberts at the door of his cottage. Mr. Roberts had a strange, dazed look about him, and he waved them off with a vague "Happy Christmas."**

"That sounds like a very powerful memory charm." Moony said.

"It had to be, they were erasing a very traumatic event." Robin said.

"I hope that it didn't cause any permanent damage." Gwen said.

**"****He'll be all right," said Mr. Weasley quietly as they marched off onto the moor. "Sometimes, when a person's memory's modified, it makes him a bit disorientated for a while… and that was a big thing they had to make him forget."**

**They heard urgent voices as they approached the spot where the Portkeys lay, and when they reached it, they found a great number of witches and wizards gathered around Basil, the keeper of the Portkeys, all clamoring to get away from the campsite as quickly as possible. Mr. Weasley had a hurried discussion with Basil; they joined the queue, and were able to take an old rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill before the sun had really risen. They walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the damp lane toward the Burrow in the dawn light, talking very little because they were so exhausted, and thinking longingly of their breakfast. As they rounded the corner and the Burrow came into view, a cry echoed along the lane.**

"I was worried out of my mind and when I saw them I was very relieved." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know, who wouldn't be." Robin said.

**"****Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!"**

**Mrs. Weasley, who had evidently been waiting for them in the front yard, came running toward them, still wearing her bedroom slippers, her face pale and strained, a rolled-up copy of the Daily Prophet clutched in her hand.**

**"****Arthur - I've been so worried - so worried-"**

**She flung her arms around Mr. Weasley's neck, and the Daily Prophet fell out of her limp hand onto the ground. Looking down, Cris saw the headline: SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP, complete with a twinkling black-and-white photograph of the Dark Mark over the treetops. **

"They probably made it worse than it probably was." Prongs said.

"They did," Remus said.

**"****You're all right," Mrs. Weasley muttered distractedly, releasing Mr. Weasley and staring around at them all with red eyes, "you're alive… Oh boys…" And to everybody's surprise, she seized Fred and George and pulled them both into such a tight hug that their heads banged together.**

"That really hurt," Fred said as they rubbed their heads in spot where they collided.

"Sorry, I was just really worried, especially what I said to the two of when before you left." Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's alright mum," George said.

**"****Ouch! Mum - you're strangling us -"**

**"****I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough OW.L.s? Oh Fred… George…"**

"Nothing can get us that easily, and besides, it looks like we survive all this considering how many kids we have." Fred said.

"Speaking of that, were you trying to do, make your own Quidditch team?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know," Fred said.

"We'll get back to you on that." George said.

"We have a bet that mum is going to have twins." Al said.

"Please no," Cris said.

"I don't think you are mum." Lily J said. Cris smiled and Kingsley continued reading.

**"****Come on, now, Molly, we're all perfectly okay," said Mr. Weasley soothingly, prying her off the twins and leading her back toward the house. "Bill," he added in an undertone, "pick up that paper, I want to see what it says…"**

**When they were all crammed into the tiny kitchen, and Hermione had made Mrs. Weasley a cup of very strong tea, into which Mr. Weasley insisted on pouring a shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey, Bill handed his father the newspaper. Mr. Weasley scanned the front page while Percy looked over his shoulder.**

**"****I knew it," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Ministry blunders… culprits not apprehended… lax security… Dark wizards running unchecked… national disgrace… Who wrote this? Ah… of course… Rita Skeeter." **

"Really? I've always hated her, sticking her nose into things and spreading wild rumors." Padfoot said.

"So she's always been like that?" Cris asked.

"Sadly." Sirius said.

**"That woman's got it in for the Ministry of Magic!" said Percy furiously. "Last week she was saying we're wasting our time quibbling about cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans —"**

**"****Do us a favor, Perce," said Bill, yawning, "and shut up."**

Percy burned brightly while the group chuckled a bit and Mrs. Weasley glaring at her oldest son.

**"I'm mentioned," said Mr. Weasley, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he reached the bottom of the Daily Prophet article.**

**"****Where?" spluttered Mrs. Weasley, choking on her tea and whiskey. "If I'd seen that, I'd have known you were alive!"**

**"****Not by name," said Mr. Weasley. "Listen to this: 'If the terrified wizards and witches who waited breathlessly for news at the edge of the wood expected reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sadly disappointed. A Ministry official emerged sometime after the appearance of the Dark Mark alleging that nobody had been hurt, but refusing to give any more information. Whether this statement will be enough to quash the rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods an hour later, remains to be seen.' Oh really," said Mr. Weasley in exasperation, handing the paper to Percy. "Nobody was hurt. What was I supposed to say? Rumors that several bodies were removed from the woods… well, there certainly will be rumors now she's printed that."**

"She really shouldn't print rumors." Gwen said.

"No one is stopping her though." Lily said. Hermione smirked and Ron and Cris chuckled quietly.

**He heaved a deep sigh. "Molly, I'm going to have to go into the office; this is going to take some smoothing over."**

**"****I'll come with you, Father," said Percy importantly. "Mr. Crouch will need all hands on deck. And I can give him my cauldron report in person."**

"I don't think he'll care anymore." Bill said.

"Doubtful," Sirius said.

**He bustled out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley looked most upset. "Arthur, you're supposed to be on holiday! This hasn't got anything to do with your office; surely they can handle this without you?"**

"He hasn't had to do that since the first war." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I bet," Robin said looking down and rubbed her semi swollen stomach.

**"I've got to go, Molly," said Mr. Weasley. "I've made things worse. I'll just change into my robes and I'll be off…"**

**"****Mrs. Weasley," said Cris suddenly, unable to contain herself, "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter for me, has she?" **

"I'm sure she would've told you if you had." Lily said.

"Had you heard anything?" Prongs asked.

"I was staying with Robin in Italy so yeah, we heard." Sirius said.

**"Hedwig, dear?" said Mrs. Weasley distractedly. "No… no, there hasn't been any post at all."**

**Ron and Hermione looked curiously at Cris. With a meaningful look at both of them she said, "All right if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"**

**"Yeah… think I will too," said Ron at once. "Hermione?"**

**"Yes," she said quickly, and the three of them marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs.**

**"What's up, Cris?" said Ron, the moment they had closed the door of the attic room behind them.**

**"There's something I haven't told you," cris said. "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again."**

**Ron's and Hermione's reactions were almost exactly as Cris had imagined them back in her bedroom on Privet Drive. Hermione gasped and started making suggestions at once, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from Albus Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. Ron simply looked dumbstruck. **

"You three are really close aren't you?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Cris said.

"All it took was a troll." Ron said.

"A troll?" Gwen asked.

"Don't ask." Cris said.

**"But - he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean - last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?"**

**"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive," said Cris. "But I was dreaming about him… him and Peter - you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill… someone."**

**She had teetered for a moment on the verge of saying "me," but couldn't bring herself to make Hermione look any more horrified than she already did.**

"You could have told us, you know." Hermione said.

"I know, I was just being stupid." Cris said.

"Yeah, you were." Ron said with a smile.

**"It was only a dream," said Ron bracingly. "Just a nightmare."**

**"Yeah, but was it, though?" said Cris, turning to look out of the window at the brightening sky. "It's weird, isn't it…? My scar hurts, and three days later the Death Eaters are on the march, and Voldemort's sign's up in the sky again."**

"That is not a coincidence." Gwen said.

"No, it's not." Lily said agreeing with the Muggle girl.

**"Don't - say - his - name!" Ron hissed through gritted teeth.**

**"And remember what Professor Trelawney said?" Cris went on, ignoring Ron. "At the end of last year?"**

**Professor Trelawney was their Divination teacher at Hogwarts. Hermione's terrified look vanished as she let out a derisive snort.**

**"Oh Cris, you aren't going to pay attention to anything that old fraud says?"**

"Actually we should have really have listened to that last one." Hermione said.

"Yeah, that one was the real deal." Sirius said.

**"You weren't there," said Cris. "You didn't hear her. This time was different. I told you, she went into a trance - a real one. And she said the Dark Lord would rise again… greater and more terrible than ever before… and he'd manage it because his servant was going to go back to him… and that night Wormtail escaped."**

**There was a silence in which Ron fidgeted absentmindedly with a hole in his Chudley Cannons bedspread.**

**"Why were you asking if Hedwig had come, Cris?" Hermione asked. "Are you expecting a letter?"**

**"I told Sirius about my scar," said Cris, shrugging. "I'm waiting for his answer."**

**"Good thinking!" said Ron, his expression clearing. "I bet Sirius'll know what to do!" **

"Did you?" Prongs asked.

"I came back to be closer, I didn't want to be far in case Cris needed my help." Sirius said. Lily and Prongs smiled gratefully at him and Kingsley continued reading.

**"I hoped he'd get back to me quickly," said Cris.**

**"But we don't know where Sirius is… he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?" said Hermione reasonably. "Hedwig's not going to manage that journey in a few days."**

**"Yeah, I know," said Cris, but there was a leaden feeling in her stomach as she looked out of the window at the Hedwig-free sky.**

**"Come and have a game of Quidditch in the orchard, Cris" said Ron. "Come on - three on three, Bill and Charlie and Fred and George will play… You can try out the Wronski Feint… " **

"You didn't." Lily said.

"Well I really wanted to." Cris said. "And it helps me take my mind off things."

"That's a good way to take your mind off things." Sirius said.

**"Ron," said Hermione, in an I-don't-think-you're-being-very-sensitive sort of voice, "Cris doesn't want to play Quidditch right now… She's worried, and she's tired… We all need to go to bed…"**

**"Yeah, I want to play Quidditch," said Cris suddenly. "Hang on, I'll get my Firebolt." **

"You are so much like your father when it comes to Quidditch." Lily said. Cris blushed as Kingsley continued reading.

**Hermione left the room, muttering something that sounded very much like "Quidditch nuts."**

**Neither Mr. Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and returned well after dinner every night.**

**"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. "I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."**

"Just buy a new one." Padfoot said.

**"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Ginny, who was mending her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.**

**"Complaining about security at the World Cup," said Percy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."**

"He seems rather interesting." Gwen said.

"He's lucky to be alive to be honest." Hermione said.

"I thought for sure that Sirius was going to kill him." Ginny said.

"Why did you want to do that?" Prongs asked.

"Fifth book," Sirius said.

**Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. Harry liked this clock. It was completely useless if you wanted to know the time, but otherwise very informative. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family's names. **

**There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. "Home," "school," and "work" were there, but there was also "traveling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, "mortal peril."**

"It's back there." Mrs. Weasley said.

"But he isn't back." Umbridge screeched.

"Why don't you wait until the end of this book and see for yourself, Professor." Cris said smiling sweetly though her eyes and her hair were a different story. Her eyes narrowed in anger and her hair turned bright red.

**Eight of the hands were currently pointing to the "home" position, but Mr. Weasley's, which was the longest, was still pointing to "work." Mrs. Weasley sighed.**

**"Your father hasn't had to go into the office on weekends since the days of You- Know-Who," she said. "They're working him far too hard. His dinner's going to be ruined if he doesn't come home soon."**

**"Well, Father feels he's got to make up for his mistake at the match, doesn't he?" said Percy. "If truth be told, he was a tad unwise to make a public statement without clearing it with his Head of Department first -"**

"Shut up," Gwen said.

**"Don't you dare blame your father for what that wretched Skeeter woman wrote!" said Mrs. Weasley, flaring up at once.**

**"If Dad hadn't said anything, old Rita would just have said it was disgraceful that nobody from the Ministry had commented," said Bill, who was playing chess with Ron. **

**"Rita Skeeter never makes anyone look good. Remember, she interviewed all the Gringotts' Charm Breakers once, and called me 'a long-haired pillock'?"**

The group laughed at this.

**"Well, it is a bit long, dear," said Mrs. Weasley gently. "If you'd just let me -"**

"No!" Bill said.

"Louis acts just like that." Victoire said with a giggle.

"Like father, like son." Charlie said with a chuckle.

**"No, Mum."**

**Rain lashed against the living room window. Hermione was immersed in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, copies of which Mrs. Weasley had bought for her, Cris, and Ron in Diagon Alley. **

**Charlie was darning a fireproof balaclava. Cris was polishing her Firebolt, the broomstick servicing kit Hermione had given her for her thirteenth birthday open at her feet. Fred and George were sitting in a far corner, quills out, talking in whispers, their heads bent over a piece of parchment.**

"What are you two doing?" Remus asked.

"Nothing illegal." Fred said with a smirk.

"That's comforting." Robin said with a smirk,

**"What are you two up to?" said Mrs. Weasley sharply, her eyes on the twins.**

**"Homework," said Fred vaguely.**

"Yeah right." Padfoot said.

"If you're doing homework than I'll eat my sock." Prongs said.

**"Don't be ridiculous, you're still on holiday," said Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Yeah, we've left it a bit late," said George.**

**"You're not by any chance writing out a new order form, are you?" said Mrs. Weasley shrewdly. "You wouldn't be thinking of restarting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, by any chance?" **

"No of course not." Fred said.

**"Now, Mum," said Fred, looking up at her, a pained look on his face. "If the Hogwarts Express crashed tomorrow, and George and I died, how would you feel to know that the last thing we ever heard from you was an unfounded accusation?"**

The group laughed once again and shook their heads.

**Everyone laughed, even Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Oh your father's coming!" she said suddenly, looking up at the clock again.**

**Mr. Weasley's hand had suddenly spun from "work" to "traveling"; a second later it had shuddered to a halt on "home" with the others, and they heard him calling from the kitchen.**

**"Coming, Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, hurrying out of the room. A few moments later, Mr. Weasley came into the warm living room carrying his dinner on a tray. He looked completely exhausted.**

"Of course, he was, they're overworking him." Tonks said.

**"Well, the fat's really in the fire now," he told Mrs. Weasley as he sat down in an armchair near the hearth and toyed unenthusiastically with his somewhat shriveled cauliflower. "Rita Skeeter's been ferreting around all week, looking for more Ministry mess-ups to report. And now she's found out about poor old Bertha going missing, so that'll be the headline in the Prophet tomorrow. I told Bagman he should have sent someone to look for her ages ago."**

"Finally," Padfoot said.

"It's too late now though." Lily said.

**"Mr. Crouch has been saying it for weeks and weeks," said Percy swiftly.**

**"Crouch is very lucky Rita hasn't found out about Winky," said Mr. Weasley irritably. "There'd be a week's worth of headlines in his house-elf being caught holding the wand that conjured the Dark Mark."**

**"I thought we were all agreed that that elf, while irresponsible, did not conjure the Mark?" said Percy hotly.**

**"If you ask me, Mr. Crouch is very lucky no one at the Daily Prophet knows how mean he is to elves!" said Hermione angrily.**

"They probably don't need to know that, because they probably could guess." Robin said.

"That's how most the old families treat their house-elves." Prongs said.

**"Now look here, Hermione!" said Percy. "A high-ranking Ministry official like Mr. Crouch deserves unswerving obedience from his servants -"**

**"His slave, you mean!" said Hermione, her voice rising passionately, "because he didn't pay Winky, did he?"**

**"I think you'd all better go upstairs and check that you've packed properly!" said Mrs. Weasley, breaking up the argument. "Come on now, all of you…"**

**Cris repacked her broomstick servicing kit, put her Firebolt over her shoulder, and went back upstairs with Ron. The rain sounded even louder at the top of the house, accompanied by loud whistling and moans from the wind, not to mention sporadic howls from the ghoul who lived in the attic. Pigwidgeon began twittering and zooming around his cage when they entered. The sight of the half-packed trunks seemed to have sent him into a frenzy of excitement.**

"Well yeah, it's his first time to Hogwarts." Bill said.

**"Bung him some Owl Treats," said Ron, throwing a packet across to Cris. "It might shut him up."**

**Cris poked a few Owl Treats through the bars of Pigwidgeon's cage, then turned to her trunk. Hedwig's cage stood next to it, still empty.**

**"It's been over a week," Cris said, looking at Hedwig's deserted perch. "Ron, you don't reckon Sirius has been caught, do you?"**

"No, you would know." Remus said.

"I was worried." Cris said.

"That's understandable." Robin said smiling sweetly at Sirius.

**"Nah, it would've been in the Daily Prophet," said Ron. "The Ministry would want to show they'd caught someone, wouldn't they?"**

**"Yeah, I suppose…"**

**"Look, here's the stuff Mum got for you in Diagon Alley. And she's got some gold out of your vault for you… and she's washed all your socks."**

**He heaved a pile of parcels onto Cris' camp bed and dropped the money bag and a load of socks next to it. Cris started unwrapping the shopping. Apart from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, by Miranda Goshawk, she had a handful of new quills, a dozen rolls of parchment, and refills for her potion-making kit - she had been running low on spine of lionfish and essence of belladonna. She was just piling underwear into her cauldron when Ron made a loud noise of disgust behind her.**

**"What is that supposed to be?"**

**He was holding up something that looked to Cris like a long, maroon velvet dress. It had a moldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs. **

Ron grimaced but Cris giggled.

"What are those?" Gwen asked.

**There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Weasley entered, carrying an armful of freshly laundered Hogwarts robes.**

**"Here you are," she said, sorting them into two piles. "Now, mind you pack them properly so they don't crease."**

**"Mum, you've given me Ginny's new dress," said Ron, handing it out to her.**

"You thought it was mine?" Ginny asked.

"It had lace on it." Ron said with a shrug.

**"Of course I haven't," said Mrs. Weasley. "That's for you. Dress robes."**

"What do you need dress robes for?" Prongs asked.

"Maybe someone is getting married." Padfoot suggested.

**"What?" said Ron, looking horror-struck.**

**"Dress robes!" repeated Mrs. Weasley. "It says on your school list that you're supposed to have dress robes this year… robes for formal occasions."**

"What's going on?" Moony asked. The marauders shrugged and Kingsley continued reading.

**"You've got to be kidding," said Ron in disbelief. "I'm not wearing that, no way."**

**"Everyone wears them, Ron!" said Mrs. Weasley crossly. "They're all like that! Your father's got some for smart parties!"**

"But mine doesn't have lace on them." Mr. Weasley said.

**"I'll go starkers before I put that on," said Ron stubbornly.**

"Now that I wouldn't have liked to see." Cris said.

"Me either." Ginny said having a look of disgust on her face.

**"Don't be so silly," said Mrs. Weasley. "You've got to have dress robes, they're on your list! I got some for Cris too… show him, Cris…"**

**In some trepidation, Cris opened the last parcel on her camp bed. It wasn't as bad as she had expected, however; her dress robes didn't have any lace on them at all – they were a jade green color and they were very soft. **

"They did bring out the color of your eyes." Ginny said.

"Thanks," Cris said with a smile.

**"I thought they'd bring out the color of your eyes, dear," said Mrs. Weasley fondly.**

**"Well, they're okay!" said Ron angrily, looking at Cris' robes. "Why couldn't I have some like that?"**

**"Because… well, I had to get yours secondhand, and there wasn't a lot of choice!" said Mrs. Weasley, flushing. **

"You could have used some of my money, I wouldn't have cared." Cris said.

"No, I couldn't." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris looked away. She would willingly have split all the money in her Gringotts vault with the Weasleys, but she knew they would never take it.**

"No, we like to make do with what we have." Mr. Weasley said.

**"I'm never wearing them," Ron was saying stubbornly. "Never."**

"You broke that promise." Cris said.

"I didn't really have any other choice." Ron said.

"You didn't have to go." Hermione said.

"Go to what?" Padfoot asked.

"Later," the trio said.

**"Fine," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "Go naked. And, Cris, make sure you get a picture of him. Goodness knows I could do with a laugh."**

**She left the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a funny spluttering noise from behind them. Pigwidgeon was choking on an overlarge Owl Treat.**

**"Why is everything I own rubbish?" said Ron furiously, striding across the room to unstick Pigwidgeon's beak.**

"Your owl isn't rubbish." Ginny said.

"Neither is Hermione." Cris said. Hermione giggled and kissed his cheek again and he blushed brightly again.

"Your turn Tonks." Kingsley said handing the book to his partner.


	13. Chapter 11: Abroad the Hogwarts Express

"**Chapter 11: Abroad the Hogwarts Express," **Tonks read.

"Yah, back to Hogwarts." Cried the marauders.

"What kind of crazy trouble do you get into this year?" Lily asked.

"The usual amount and then some." Cris said keeping calm to try and not break into hysterics.

"Why can't you have a normal year?" Lily asked.

"What's that?" the trio asked. The room chuckled and groaned at the same time.

**There was a definite end-of-the-holidays gloom in the air when Cris awoke next morning. Heavy rain was still splattering against the window as she got dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt; they would change into their school robes on the Hogwarts Express. **

"That would be stupid if you didn't" Lily said.

**She, Ron, Fred, and George had just reached the first-floor landing on their way down to breakfast, when Mrs. Weasley appeared at the foot of the stairs, looking harassed.**

**"****Arthur!" she called up the staircase. "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!" **

"What happened now?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing too bad I hope." Lily said.

**Cris flattened herself against the wall as Mr. Weasley came clattering past with his robes on back-to-front and hurtled out of sight. When Cris and the others entered the kitchen, they saw Mrs. Weasley rummaging anxiously in the drawers –**

**"****I've got a quill here somewhere!" - and Mr. Weasley bending over the fire, talking to – **

"Now I think I've seen it all." Gwen said.

"It did seem really strange at first." Cris said.

"So you've used it?" Gwen asked.

"A few times." Cris said eyeing the two ministry officials in the room.

**Cris shut her eyes hard and opened them again to make sure that they were working properly.**

**Amos Diggory's head was sitting in the middle of the flames like a large, bearded egg. It was talking very fast, completely unperturbed by the sparks flying around it and the flames licking its ears. **

"That is really strange." Gwen said.

"It's just like Flooing expect all you're doing is talking to the person rather than traveling there." Bill said.

"So the calls don't cut out on you?" Gwen asked.

"No, but they can get interrupted." Cris said.

**"… Muggle neighbors heard bangs and shouting, so they went and called those what-d'you-call-'ems - please-men.**

"Policemen," Gwen said.

"I'm sure that's what he meant." Lily said.

**Arthur, you've got to get over there —"**

**"****Here!" said Mrs. Weasley breathlessly, pushing a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a crumpled quill into Mr. Weasley's hands.**

**"****- it's a real stroke of luck I heard about it," said Mr. Diggory's head. "I had to come into the office early to send a couple of owls, and I found the Improper Use of Magic lot all setting off — if Rita Skeeter gets hold of this one, Arthur —"**

**"****What does Mad-Eye say happened?"**

"Mad-Eye?" Prongs asked raising an eye and looking over at him.

"There was a prowler about." Moody said. He didn't give anything else away to keep them in suspense.

**asked Mr. Weasley, unscrewing the ink bottle, loading up his quill, and preparing to take notes.**

**Mr. Diggory's head rolled its eyes. "Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."**

"Dustbins?" Padfoot asked with a laugh.

"They're useful and everyone has them." Moody said with a shrug.

**"****What did the dustbins do?" asked Mr. Weasley, scribbling frantically.**

**"****Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," said Mr. Diggory. "Apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the pleasemen turned up -"**

**Mr. Weasley groaned.**

"And now it just made your job harder." Lily said.

"Just a bit." Mr. Weasley said.

**"****And what about the intruder?"**

**"****Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," said Mr. Diggory's head, rolling its eyes again. "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around somewhere, covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it — think of his record — we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department — what are exploding dustbins worth?" **

"They're very cheap." Gwen said.

"Not like that," Sirius said.

"Oh, like trouble." Gwen said.

"Exactly," Remus said.

**"Might be a caution," said Mr. Weasley, still writing very fast, his brow furrowed. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"**

**"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," said Mr. Diggory, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."**

"Still didn't help matters." Cris mumbled.

**"All right, I'm off," Mr. Weasley said, and he stuffed the parchment with his notes on it into his pocket and dashed out of the kitchen again.**

**Mr. Diggory's head looked around at Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Sorry about this, Molly," it said, more calmly, "bothering you so early and everything… but Arthur's the only one who can get Mad-Eye off, and Mad-Eye's supposed to be starting his new job today. Why he had to choose last night…"**

"I really didn't have a choice in the matter," Moody said gruffly.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked.

"Something you'll understand later Gwen." Cris said.

"Alright," Gwen said.

**"Never mind, Amos," said Mrs. Weasley. "Sure you won't have a bit of toast or anything before you go?"**

**"Oh go on, then," said Mr. Diggory.**

**Mrs. Weasley took a piece of buttered toast from a stack on the kitchen table, put it into the fire tongs, and transferred it into Mr. Diggory's mouth. "Fanks," he said in a muffled voice, and then, with a small pop, vanished. **

"Wait, you can eat when you're talking like that?" Gwen asked.

"Magic," Cris said.

**Cris could hear Mr. Weasley calling hurried good-byes to Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the girls. Within five minutes, he was back in the kitchen, his robes on the right way now, dragging a comb through his hair. **

**"I'd better hurry - you have a good term, kids," said Mr. Weasley to Cris, Ron, and the twins, fastening a cloak over his shoulders and preparing to Disapparate.**

**"Molly, are you going to be all right taking the kids to King's Cross?"**

**"Of course I will," she said. "You just look after Mad-Eye, we'll be fine."**

**As Mr. Weasley vanished, Bill and Charlie entered the kitchen.**

**"Did someone say Mad-Eye?" Bill asked. "What's he been up to now."**

"Whatever suits him best." Sirius said. Moody's blue eye whirled over to Sirius and Tonks continued reading.

**"He says someone tried to break into his house last night," said Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast. "Isn't he that nutter -"**

"Sorry Mad-Eye," George said.

"Don't worry about it, all the best people are." Dumbledore said.

**"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.**

**"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather…"**

"Flock together," cried the pranksters. This made everyone laugh and Tonks continued reading.

**"Moody was a great wizard in his time," said Bill.**

**"He's an old friend of Dumbledore's, isn't he?" said Charlie. **

"It seems like all the people who aren't exactly normal are friends." Gwen said.

"It certainly does seem like it doesn't." Cris said. Dumbledore chuckled merrily as Tonks continued reading.

**"Dumbledore's not what you'd call normal, though, is he?" said Fred. "I mean, I know he's a genius and everything…"**

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said.

"You're welcome," the Mr. Weasley's in the room said. This caused the room chuckle once more.

**"Who is Mad-Eye?" asked Cris.**

**"He's retired, used to work at the Ministry," said Charlie. "I met him once when Dad took me into work with him. He was an Auror - one of the best… a Dark wizard catcher," he added, seeing Cris' blank look "Half the cells in Azkaban are full because of him. He made himself loads of enemies, though… the families of people he caught, mainly… and I heard he's been getting really paranoid in his old age. Doesn't trust anyone anymore. Sees Dark wizards everywhere."**

"That's because they are everywhere." Moody said. Gwen rolled her eyes but smiled at Cris who smiled back at her.

**Bill and Charlie decided to come and see everyone off at King's Cross station, but Percy, apologizing most profusely, said that he really needed to get to work.**

**"I just can't justify taking more time off at the moment," he told them. "Mr. Crouch is really starting to rely on me." **

"Sure he is, he doesn't even remember your name." Bill said.

**"Yeah, you know what, Percy?" said George seriously. "I reckon he'll know your name soon."**

"Why are you even working for someone who doesn't even know your name?" Gwen asked.

"It was a place to start." Percy said quietly.

**Mrs. Weasley had braved the telephone in the village post office to order three ordinary Muggle taxis to take them into London.**

**"Arthur tried to borrow Ministry cars for us," Mrs. Weasley whispered to Cris as they stood in the rain-washed yard, watching the taxi drivers heaving six heavy Hogwarts trunks into their cars. "But there weren't any to spare… Oh dear, they don't look happy, do they?" **

"Well you do have owls with you." Robin said.

"No, they wouldn't have liked that at all." Gwen said.

**Cris didn't like to tell Mrs. Weasley that Muggle taxi drivers rarely transported overexcited owls, and Pigwidgeon was making an earsplitting racket. Nor did it help that a number of Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks went off unexpectedly when Fred's trunk sprang open, causing the driver carrying it to yell with fright and pain as Crookshanks clawed his way up the man's leg.**

The pranksters laughed as Mrs. Weasley was scowling at her son.

**The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the fact that they were jammed in the back of the taxis with their trunks.**

"And without the extension charms too." Ginny said.

"That really would have been uncomfortable." Luna said.

**Crookshanks took quite a while to recover from the fireworks, and by the time they entered London, Cris, Ron, and Hermione were all severely scratched. They were very relieved to get out at King's Cross, even though the rain was coming down harder than ever, and they got soaked carrying their trunks across the busy road and into the station.**

**Cris was used to getting onto platform nine and three-quarters by now. It was a simple matter of walking straight through the apparently solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. **

"You know, that makes it sound really bad." Gwen said.

"That's just how it is, unless you have a crazy house-elf trying to stop you from going then you crash." Cris said.

"That does sound painful." Gwen said.

"It was," Cris said.

**The only tricky part was doing this in an unobtrusive way, so as to avoid attracting Muggle attention. They did it in groups today; Cris, Ron, and Hermione (the most conspicuous, since they were accompanied by Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks) went first; they leaned casually against the barrier, chatting unconcernedly, and slid sideways through it… and as they did so, platform nine and three-quarters materialized in front of them.**

**The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there, clouds of steam billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts. Pigwidgeon became noisier than ever in response to the hooting of many owls through the mist. Cris, Ron, and Hermione set off to find seats, and were soon stowing their luggage in a compartment halfway along the train. They then hopped back down onto the platform to say good-bye to Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie.**

**"I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie, grinning, as he hugged Ginny good-bye. **

"Not more dragons." Lily groaned.

"Sadly," Cris said.

"I hope you don't have to mess with them." Lily said.

**"Why?" said Fred keenly.**

**"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it… it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."**

"Great, when do you find out?" Padfoot asked.

"At the feast." Cris said.

"Good not too much longer than." Prongs said.

**"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill, hands in his pockets, looking almost wistfully at the train.**

**"Why?" said George impatiently.**

**"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."**

"Watch what?" Gwen asked.

"Cris, it seems you have rubbed off on your friend." Hermione said.

"Well I rubbed off on the two of you." Cris said.

**"A bit of what?" said Ron.**

**But at that moment, the whistle blew, and Mrs. Weasley chivvied them toward the train doors.**

**"Thanks for having us to stay, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione as they climbed on board, closed the door, and leaned out of the window to talk to her.**

**"Yeah, thanks for everything, Mrs. Weasley," said Cris.**

**"Oh it was my pleasure, dears," said Mrs. Weasley. "I'd invite you for Christmas, but… well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with… one thing and another." **

"What is it!" people cried which caused those who knew to chuckle.

**"Mum!" said Ron irritably. "What d'you three know that we don't?"**

**"You'll find out this evening, I expect," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "It's going to be very exciting - mind you, I'm very glad they've changed the rules -"**

**"What rules?" said Cris, Ron, Fred, and George together.**

**"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell you… Now, behave, won't you? Won't you, Fred? And you, George?" **

"Of course we will." The twins said.

"Got to love pranksters." Sirius said.

"Funny, you don't say that in the future." Scarlett said with a smirk.

"Impossible," Sirius said.

"Unlikely," Prongs said.

"You'll see." Keiran said with a laugh.

**The pistons hissed loudly and the train began to move.**

**"Tell us what's happening at Hogwarts!" Fred bellowed out of the window as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie sped away from them. "What rules are they changing?"**

**But Mrs. Weasley only smiled and waved. Before the train had rounded the corner, she, Bill, and Charlie had Disapparated.**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione went back to their compartment. **

**The thick rain splattering the windows made it very difficult to see out of them. Ron undid his trunk, pulled out his maroon dress robes, and flung them over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle his hooting.**

"Bad idea," Padfoot said.

"We know," the trio said glancing over at Draco.

**"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," he said grumpily, sitting down next to Cris. "At the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what —"**

**"Shh!" Hermione whispered suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips and pointing toward the compartment next to theirs. Cris and Ron listened, and heard a familiar drawling voice drifting in through the open door. **

"Draco," the group said as Draco blushed slightly.

**"… Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood-lover - and Durmstrang doesn't admit that sort of riffraff. But Mother didn't like the idea of me going to school so far away. Father says Durmstrang takes a far more sensible line than Hogwarts about the Dark Arts. Durmstrang students actually learn them, not just the defense rubbish we do…" **

"It's not rubbish," Cris snapped.

"I know, I was just saying that to benefit them, they tend to tell my father everything I do." Draco said.

"That just sucks." Luna said taking his hand.

**Hermione got up, tiptoed to the compartment door, and slid it shut, blocking out Malfoy's voice.**

**"So he thinks Durmstrang would have suited him, does he?" she said angrily. "I wish he had gone, then we wouldn't have to put up with him."**

**"Durmstrang's another wizarding school right?" said Cris.**

"So you remembered." Remus said.

"Of course, I made a promise to you so I kept it." Cris said with a smile at her honorary uncle.

**"Yes," said Hermione sniffily, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to 'An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe', it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."**

**"I think I've heard of it," said Ron vaguely. "Where is it? What country?"**

"Somewhere in the North and Central Europe." Moony said.

**"Well, nobody knows, do they?" said Hermione, raising her eyebrows.**

**"Er - why not?" said Cris.**

**"There's traditionally been a lot of rivalry between all the magic schools. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons like to conceal their whereabouts so nobody can steal their secrets," said Hermione matter-of-factly.**

**"Come off it," said Ron, starting to laugh. "Durmstrang's got to be about the same size as Hogwarts — how are you going to hide a great big castle?"**

**"But Hogwarts is hidden," said Hermione, in surprise. "Everyone knows that… well, everyone who's read Hogwarts, A History, anyway."**

"So just you," Ron said with a smirk and received a pillow in the face from Cris.

**"Just you, then," said Ron. **

"**I've read it," Cris said. Ron gapped at her and Hermione smiled. **

"**I knew you had; sense you named Hedwig, Hedwig." Hermione said with a smile.**

"Was I that obvious?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, a little bit." Hermione said with a chuckle.

**"So go on - how d'you hide a place like Hogwarts?"**

**"It's bewitched," said Cris. "If a Muggle looks at it, all they see is a moldering old ruin with a sign over the entrance saying DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE."**

**"So Durmstrang'll just look like a ruin to an outsider too?" **

"More than likely." Sirius said.

"But aren't we in Hogwarts?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, that just means that it wants you to see it." Dumbledore said.

**"Maybe," said Hermione, shrugging, "or it might have Muggle-repelling charms on it, like the World Cup stadium. And to keep foreign wizards from finding it, they'll have made it Unplottable -"**

**"Come again?"**

**"Well, you can enchant a building so it's impossible to plot on a map, can't you?" Cris said.**

"Like Grimmauld Place," Ginny said.

"Exactly." Sirius said.

**"Er… if you say so," said Ron.**

**"But I think Durmstrang must be somewhere in the far north," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Somewhere very cold, because they've got fur capes as part of their uniforms."**

**"Ah, think of the possibilities," said Ron dreamily. "It would've been so easy to push Malfoy off a glacier and make it look like an accident… Shame his mother likes him…"**

"Hey!" Draco said.

"Sorry, but at the time you were being a git to us at the time." Ron said.

**The rain became heavier and heavier as the train moved farther north. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor, and Cris bought a large stack of Cauldron Cakes for them to share.**

**Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother. **

"Sorry," Cris said.

"It's true though." Neville said.

**Seamus was still wearing his Ireland rosette. Some of its magic seemed to be wearing off now; it was still squeaking "Troy - Mullet - Moran!" but in a very feeble and exhausted sort of way. After half an hour or so, Hermione, growing tired of the endless Quidditch talk, buried herself once more in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4, and started trying to learn a Summoning Charm.**

"That would have been useful to learn at the beginning of the year." Cris said.

"Yeah, probably." Ginny said with a smile.

**Neville listened jealously to the others' conversation as they relived the Cup match.**

**"Gran didn't want to go," he said miserably. "Wouldn't buy tickets. It sounded amazing though."**

"I really wanted to go." Neville said.

"Don't worry Uncle Neville, you go to quite a few in the future." Al said.

"Especially with being married to Aunt Ginny, she played for the Harpies." Victoire said.

**"It was," said Ron. "Look at this, Neville…" He rummaged in his trunk up in the luggage rack and pulled out the miniature figure of Viktor Krum.**

**"Oh wow," said Neville enviously as Ron tipped Krum onto his pudgy hand.**

**"We saw him right up close, as well," said Ron. "We were in the Top Box -"**

**"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley."**

Draco groans yet again and looked down into his lap.

**Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus had left ajar.**

**"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," said Cris coolly.**

**"Weasley… what is that?" said Malfoy, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the moldy lace cuff very obvious. **

Ron blushed brightly while Bill and Charlie groaned, thinking about what Draco would say to that.

**Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Malfoy was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled.**

**"Look at this!" said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle, "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety…**

"I'm very sorry about that." Draco said. Ron blinked him and gave him a short nod before Tonks continued reading.

**"Eat dung, Malfoy!" said Ron, the same color as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Malfoy's grip. Malfoy howled with derisive laughter; Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly.**

**"So… going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know… you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won…"**

"What is he talking about?" Padfoot asked.

"He knows what's going on this year." Prongs said.

"Great," Lily said.

**"What are you talking about?" snapped Ron.**

**"Are you going to enter?" Malfoy repeated. "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"**

**"Either explain what you're on about or go away, Malfoy," said Hermione testily, over the top of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4.**

**A gleeful smile spread across Malfoy's pale face**

**"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. "You've got a father and brother at the Ministry and you don't even know? My God, my father told me about it ages ago… heard it from Cornelius Fudge. But then, Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry… Maybe your father's too junior to know about it, Weasley… yes… they probably don't talk about important stuff in front of him…"**

"Oh I knew; I just kept it quiet as they asked us to." Mr. Weasley said.

"They wanted it to be a surprise for the kids." Tonks said.

"Well, we were surprised." Hermione said.

"That's an understatement." The twins said.

**Laughing once more, Malfoy beckoned to Crabbe and Goyle, and the three of them disappeared.**

**Ron got to his feet and slammed the sliding compartment door so hard behind them that the glass shattered.**

**"Ron!" said Hermione reproachfully, and she pulled out her wand, muttered "Reparo!" and the glass shards flew back into a single pane and back into the door.**

"At least you fixed it," Bill said.

"I would have but she beat me to it." Cris said.

"Sorry," Hermione said.

"No worries," Cris said.

**"Well… making it look like he knows everything and we don't…" Ron snarled. "'Father's always associated with the top people at the Ministry'… Dad could've got a promotion any time… he just likes it where he is…" **

"I do," Mr. Weasley said with a smile.

"You're higher up now, way higher." Victoire said.

**"Of course he does," said Hermione quietly. "Don't let Malfoy get to you, Ron -"**

**"Him! Get to me! As if!" said Ron, picking up one of the remaining Cauldron Cakes and squashing it into a pulp.**

"Gasp, Ron destroyed food!" Fred said.

"What is the world coming too?" George asked. Ron blushed and threw a pillow at them.

**Ron's bad mood continued for the rest of the journey. He didn't talk much as they changed into their school robes, and was still glowering when the Hogwarts Express slowed down at last and finally stopped in the pitch-darkness of Hogsmeade station.**

**As the train doors opened, there was a rumble of thunder overhead. Hermione bundled up Crookshanks in her cloak and Ron left his dress robes over Pigwidgeon as they left the train, heads bent and eyes narrowed against the downpour. The rain was now coming down so thick and fast that it was as though buckets of ice-cold water were being emptied repeatedly over their heads.**

"That sounds terrible." Lily said.

"It was pretty bad." Cris said.

"What about the first years?" Gwen asked.

"They'll be fine." Robin said.

**"Hi, Hagrid!" Cris yelled, seeing a gigantic silhouette at the far end of the platform.**

**"All righ', Cris?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving. "See yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"**

"Don't scare the first years." Tonks said.

**First years traditionally reached Hogwarts Castle by sailing across the lake with Hagrid.**

"I hope nobody gets lost." Gwen said.

"Don't worry, Hagrid has them." Cris said.

**"Oooh, I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather," said Hermione fervently, shivering as they inched slowly along the dark platform with the rest of the crowd. A hundred horseless carriages stood waiting for them outside the station. Cris, Ron, Hermione, and Neville climbed gratefully into one of them, the door shut with a snap, and a few moments later, with a great lurch, the long procession of carriages was rumbling and splashing its way up the track toward Hogwarts Castle.**

"So that's the chapter." Tonks said. She passed it to Teddy who opened it to start the next chapter.


	14. Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament

"**Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament," **Teddy read.

"They brought it back?" Moony asked.

"But I thought it was too dangerous." Lily said.

"How dangerous?" Gwen asked.

"About as much danger as I get into." Cris said.

"That's not good." Gwen said.

**Through the gates, flanked with statues of winged boars, and up the sweeping drive the carriages trundled, swaying dangerously in what was fast becoming a gale. Leaning against the window, Cris could see Hogwarts coming nearer, its many lighted windows blurred and shimmering behind the thick curtain of rain. Lightning flashed across the sky as their carriage came to a halt before the great oak front doors, which stood at the top of a flight of stone steps. People who had occupied the carriages in front were already hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Cris, Ron, Hermione, and Neville jumped down from their carriage and dashed up the steps too, looking up only when they were safely inside the cavernous, torch-lit entrance hall, with its magnificent marble staircase.**

**"****Blimey," said Ron, shaking his head and sending water everywhere, "if that keeps up the lake's going to overflow. I'm soak - ARRGH!" **

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"Peeves," the trio and Neville said.

**A large, red, water-filled balloon had dropped from out of the ceiling onto Ron's head and exploded. Drenched and sputtering, Ron staggered sideways into Cris, just as a second water bomb dropped - narrowly missing Hermione, it burst at Cris' feet, sending a wave of cold water over her sneakers into her socks. **

"I hate that," Lily said.

"It really is uncomfortable." Cris said with a smile.

**People all around them shrieked and started pushing one another in their efforts to get out of the line of fire. **

"At least you're already wet though." Bill said.

"Doesn't mean we didn't want to get anymore wet." Ron said.

**Cris looked up and saw, floating twenty feet above them, Peeves the Poltergeist, a little man in a bell-covered hat and orange bow tie, his wide, malicious face contorted with concentration as he took aim again.**

**"****PEEVES!" yelled an angry voice. "Peeves, come down here at ONCE!" Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House, had come dashing out of the Great Hall; she skidded on the wet floor and grabbed Hermione around the neck to stop herself from falling.**

**"****Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger -"**

**"****That's all right, Professor!" Hermione gasped, massaging her throat.**

"I really wasn't aiming for you." McGonagall said.

"I understand," Hermione said waving her Professor off the issue.

**"****Peeves, get down here NOW!" barked Professor McGonagall, straightening her pointed hat and glaring upward through her square-rimmed spectacles.**

**"****Not doing nothing!" cackled Peeves, lobbing a water bomb at several fifth-year girls, who screamed and dived into the Great Hall. "Already wet, aren't they? Little squirts! Wheeeeeeeeee!" And he aimed another bomb at a group of second years who had just arrived.**

**"I shall call the headmaster!" shouted Professor McGonagall. "I'm warning you, Peeves -" **

"I knew that wouldn't work." McGonagall said.

**Peeves stuck out his tongue, threw the last of his water bombs into the air, and zoomed off up the marble staircase, cackling insanely.**

**"****Well, move along, then!" said Professor McGonagall sharply to the bedraggled crowd. "Into the Great Hall, come on!"**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione slipped and slid across the entrance hall and through the double doors on the right, Ron muttering furiously under his breath as he pushed his sopping hair off his face.**

"We really should have looked up that spell on the train ride." Cris said.

"Hindsight is always 20-20." Hermione said.

**The Great Hall looked its usual splendid self, decorated for the start-of-term feast. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds and hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in midair. The four long House tables were packed with chattering students; at the top of the Hall, the staff sat along one side of a fifth table, facing their pupils. It was much warmer in here. Cris, Ron, and Hermione walked past the Slytherins, the Ravenclaws, and the Hufflepuffs, and sat down with the rest of the Gryffindors at the far side of the Hall, next to Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost. Pearly white and semitransparent, Nick was dressed tonight in his usual doublet, but with a particularly large ruff, which served the dual purpose of looking extra-festive, and insuring that his head didn't wobble too much on his partially severed neck.**

**"****Good evening," he said, beaming at them.**

**"****Says who?" said Cris, taking off her sneakers and emptying them of water. "Hope they hurry up with the Sorting. I'm starving."**

**The Sorting of the new students into Houses took place at the start of every school year, but by an unlucky combination of circumstances, Cris hadn't been present at one since her own.**

"What happened?" Gwen asked.

"The willow incident in second year and then me collapsing on the train due to the Dementors the year before." Cris said.

"That doesn't sound good." Gwen said.

**He was quite looking forward to it. Just then, a highly excited, breathless voice called down the table.**

**"****Hiya, Cris!"**

**It was Colin Creevey, a third year to whom Cris was something of a hero.**

**"****Hi, Colin," said Cris warily.**

**"****Cris, guess what? Guess what, Cris? My brother's starting! My brother Dennis!"**

"Uncle Dennis!" Victoire said with a smile.

"Uncle Dennis?" the kids around the room asked.

"He married mum's sister Gabrielle." Victoire said.

"How did they meet?" Hermione asked.

"It was after the final battle; Uncle Dennis is three years older than her." Victoire said.

"They have three kids now, two boys and a girl." Teddy said.

"That's sweet." Hermione said.

**"****Er - good," said Cris.**

**"****He's really excited!" said Colin, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. "I just hope he's in Gryffindor! Keep your fingers crossed, eh, Cris?"**

**"****Er - yeah, all right," said Cris. She turned back to Hermione, Ron, and Nearly Headless Nick.**

**"****Brothers and sisters usually go in the same Houses, don't they?" she said. She was judging by the Weasleys, all seven of whom had been put into Gryffindor. **

"We were just lucky, but no not always." Bill said.

"I was the first Black to be sorted outside of Slytherin." Sirius said.

"And now we were too!" Keiran and Scarlett said.

**"****Oh no, not necessarily," said Hermione. "Parvati Patil's twin's in Ravenclaw, and they're identical. You'd think they'd be together, wouldn't you?"**

"One would think." Gwen said.

"Uncle Bill's kids aren't all in the same house and Percy and Roxi aren't in the same house." Al said.

"They aren't?" Bill and Charlie asked.

"No, I'm in Ravenclaw and Dom and Louis are in Gryffindor, Percy is in Ravenclaw and Roxi is in Gryffindor." Victoire said. They nodded and Teddy continued reading.

**Cris looked up at the staff table. There seemed to be rather more empty seats there than usual. Hagrid, of course, was still fighting his way across the lake with the first years; Professor McGonagall was presumably supervising the drying of the entrance hall floor, but there was another empty chair too, and Cris couldn't think who else was missing.**

"The Defense teacher isn't there yet." Lily said.

"Who is it?" Prongs asked.

"I hope it's someone who isn't stupid." Padfoot said.

**"****Where's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Hermione, who was also looking up at the teachers.**

**They had never yet had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who had lasted more than three terms. Cris' favorite by far had been Professor Lupin, **

"Thanks Cris," Remus said.

"No problem Uncle Moony." Cris said with a smile.

**who had resigned last year. She looked up and down the staff table. There was definitely no new face there.**

**"****Maybe they couldn't get anyone!" said Hermione, looking anxious.**

"I'm sure Professor Dumbledore did." Lily said.

**Cris scanned the table more carefully. Tiny little Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was sitting on a large pile of cushions beside Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, whose hat was askew over her flyaway gray hair. She was talking to Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department. On Professor Sinistra's other side was the sallow-faced, hook-nosed, greasy-haired **

Snape sneered at the book but didn't say anything.

"Is his introduction always going to be like that?" George whispered.

"Maybe," Cris said.

**Potions master, Snape – Cris' least favorite person at Hogwarts. Cris' loathing of Snape was matched only by Snape's hatred of her, a hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Cris had helped Sirius escape right under Snape's overlarge nose – Snape and Sirius had been enemies since their own school days.**

**On Snape's other side was an empty seat, which Cris guessed was Professor McGonagall's. Next to it, and in the very center of the table, sat Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, his sweeping silver hair and beard shining in the candlelight, his magnificent deep green robes embroidered with many stars and moons. The tips of Dumbledore's long, thin fingers were together and he was resting his chin upon them, staring up at the ceiling through his half-moon spectacles as though lost in thought. Cris glanced up at the ceiling too. It was enchanted to look like the sky outside, and she had never seen it look this stormy. Black and purple clouds were swirling across it, and as another thunderclap sounded outside, a fork of lightning flashed across it.**

"**Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, beside Cris, "I could eat a hippogriff."**

"I hope not," Charlie said sending a glare to his brother.

**The words were no sooner out of his mouth than the doors of the Great Hall opened and silence fell. Professor McGonagall was leading a long line of first years up to the top of the Hall. If Cris, Ron, and Hermione were wet, it was nothing to how these first years looked. They appeared to have swum across the lake rather than sailed. All of them were shivering with a combination of cold and nerves as they filed along the staff table and came to a halt in a line facing the rest of the school - all of them except the smallest of the lot, a boy with mousy hair, who was wrapped in what Cris recognized as Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. The coat was so big for him that it looked as though he were draped in a furry black circus tent. His small face protruded from over the collar, looking almost painfully excited.**

**When he had lined up with his terrified-looking peers, he caught Colin Creevey's eye, gave a double thumbs-up, and mouthed, 'I fell in the lake!' He looked positively delighted about it. **

"That's just like Uncle Dennis." Victoire said shaking her head with a smile on her face.

"He seems like a fun kid." Padfoot said.

**Professor McGonagall now placed a three-legged stool on the ground before the first years and, on top of it, an extremely old, dirty patched wizard's hat. The first years stared at it. So did everyone else. For a moment, there was silence. Then a long tear near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat broke into song:**

Teddy started to sing too, which the group was grateful for because he wasn't obnoxious about it.

_**A thousand years or more ago,**_

_**When I was newly sewn,**_

_**There lived four wizards of renown,**_

_**Whose names are still well known:**_

_**Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,**_

_**Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,**_

_**Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,**_

_**Shrewd Slytherin, from fin.**_

_**They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,**_

_**They hatched a daring plan**_

_**To educate young sorcerers**_

_**Thus Hogwarts School began.**_

_**Now each of these four founders**_

_**Formed their own house, for each**_

_**Did value different virtues**_

_**In the ones they had to teach.**_

_**By Gryffindor, the bravest were**_

_**Prized far beyond the rest;**_

_**For Ravenclaw, the cleverest**_

_**Would always be the best;**_

_**For Hufflepuff, hard workers were**_

_**Most worthy of admission;**_

_**And power-hungry Slytherin**_

_**Loved those of great ambition.**_

_**While still alive they did divide**_

_**Their favorites from the throng,**_

_**Yet how to pick the worthy ones**_

_**When they were dead and gone?**_

_**'**__**Twas Gryffindor who found the way,**_

_**He whipped me off his head**_

_**The founders put some brains in me**_

_**So I could choose instead!**_

_**Now slip me snug about your ears,**_

_**I've never yet been wrong,**_

_**I'll have a look inside your mind**_

_**And tell where you belong!**_

**The Great Hall rang with applause as the Sorting Hat finished.**

**"****That's not the song it sang when it Sorted us," said Cris, clapping along with everyone else.**

"It sings a different song every year." Lily said.

"I didn't know that at the time considering that I missed the previous two." Cris said.

"It's okay," Lily said with a smile.

**"Sings a different one every year," said Ron. "It's got to be a pretty boring life, hasn't it, being a hat? I suppose it spends all year making up the next one."**

"It does, I often hear him practicing." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

**Professor McGonagall was now unrolling a large scroll of parchment.**

**"****When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the hat announces your House, you will go and sit at the appropriate table.**

**"****Ackerley, Stewart!"**

**A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on, and sat down on the stool.**

**"****RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.**

**Stewart Ackerley took off the hat and hurried into a seat at the Ravenclaw table, where everyone was applauding him. Cris caught a glimpse of Cedric, the Hufflepuff Seeker, cheering Stewart Ackerley as he sat down. For a fleeting second, Cris had a strange desire to join the Hufflepuff table too. **

The twins looked jealous and Cris looked up and smiled and kissed them.

"It was a small crush; it was over after the first date." Cris said.

"Good," they said crossing their arms.

**"Baddock, Malcolm!"**

**"SLYTHERIN!"**

Draco clapped but didn't cheer.

**The table on the other side of the hall erupted with cheers; Cris could see Malfoy clapping as Baddock joined the Slytherins. Cris wondered whether Baddock knew that Slytherin House had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other. Fred and George hissed Malcolm Baddock as he sat down. **

Cris slapped them but smiled sweetly when they looked at her.

**"Branstone, Eleanor!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

**"Cauldwell, Owen!"**

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

**"Creevey, Dennis!"**

**Tiny Dennis Creevey staggered forward, tripping over Hagrid's moleskin, just as Hagrid himself sidled into the Hall through a door behind the teachers' table. About twice as tall as a normal man, and at least three times as broad, Hagrid, with his long, wild, tangled black hair and beard, looked slightly alarming – a misleading impression, for Cris, Ron, and Hermione knew Hagrid to possess a very kind nature. He winked at them as he sat down at the end of the staff table and watched Dennis Creevey putting on the Sorting Hat. The rip at the brim opened wide— -**

**"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.**

**Hagrid clapped along with the Gryffindors as Dennis Creevey, beaming widely, took off the hat, placed it back on the stool, and hurried over to join his brother.**

**"Colin, I fell in!" he said shrilly, throwing himself into an empty seat. "It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back in the boat!"**

**"Cool!" said Colin, just as excitedly. "It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!" **

"There's a giant squid?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, it's actually quite calm to." Tonks said.

"Unless you get the bright idea to levitate it out of the lake." Robin said smirking at her brother and fiancé.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Sirius said laughing. They calmed down and promised to tell it sometime later.

**"Wow!" said Dennis, as though nobody in their wildest dreams could hope for more than being thrown into a storm-tossed, fathoms-deep lake, and pushed out of it again by a giant sea monster.**

**"Dennis! Dennis! See that girl down there? The one with the purple hair and glasses? See her? Know who she is, Dennis?"**

"It's Cristal Potter," the group said.

"Yeah, yeah, Teddy, please continue." Cris said.

**Cris looked away, staring very hard at the Sorting Hat, now Sorting Emma Dobbs.**

**The Sorting continued; boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces moving one by one to the three-legged stool, the line dwindling slowly as Professor McGonagall passed the L's.**

**"Oh hurry up," Ron moaned, massaging his stomach.**

**"Now, Ron, the Sorting's much more important than food," said Nearly Headless Nick as "Madley, Laura!" became a Hufflepuff.**

**"Course it is, if you're dead," snapped Ron.**

"That was rude," Luna said.

"I know," Ron said turning as red as his hair.

**"I do hope this year's batch of Gryffindors are up to scratch," said Nearly Headless Nick, applauding as "McDonald, Natalie!" joined the Gryffindor table. **

**"We don't want to break our winning streak, do we?"**

**Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Championship for the last three years in a row. **

"And it's all thanks to the wonderful trio," Robin said.

"Not all of it." Hermione said.

"Most of it," Remus said.

**"Pritchard, Graham!"**

**"SLYTHERIN!"**

**"Quirke, Orla!"**

**"RAVENCLAW!"**

**And finally, with "Whitby, Kevin!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), the Sorting ended. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool and carried them away. "About time," said Ron, seizing his knife and fork and looking expectantly at his golden plate.**

**Professor Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was smiling around at the students, his arms opened wide in welcome.**

**"I have only two words to say to you," he told them, his deep voice echoing around the Hall. "Tuck in." **

"Short and sweet." Sirius said.

**"Hear, hear!" said Cris and Ron loudly as the empty dishes filled magically before their eyes.**

**Nearly Headless Nick watched mournfully as Cris, Ron, and Hermione loaded their own plates.**

**"Aaah, 'at's be'er," said Ron, with his mouth full of mashed potato.**

**"You're lucky there's a feast at all tonight, you know," said Nearly Headless Nick. "There was trouble in the kitchens earlier."**

**"Why? Wha' 'appened?" said Cris, through a sizable chunk of steak.**

**"Peeves, of course," said Nearly Headless Nick, shaking his head, which wobbled dangerously. He pulled his ruff a little higher up on his neck. "The usual argument, you know. He wanted to attend the feast - well, it's quite out of the question, you know what he's like, utterly uncivilized, can't see a plate of food without throwing it. We held a ghost's council - the Fat Friar was all for giving him the chance – but most wisely, in my opinion, the Bloody Baron put his foot down."**

**The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, a gaunt and silent specter covered in silver bloodstains. He was the only person at Hogwarts who could really control Peeves. **

"It's because he's terrifying." Padfoot said.

"Does anyone know why he is covered in blood?" Gwen asked.

"Mum found out in her seventh year." James said.

"Did I tell you?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, it's actually really sad." Scarlett said.

"Tell us!" the group cried.

"Nope, you'll find out." Lily J said.

**"Yeah, we thought Peeves seemed hacked off about something," said Ron darkly.**

**"Oh the usual," said Nearly Headless Nick, shrugging. "Wreaked havoc and mayhem. Pots and pans everywhere. Place swimming in soup. Terrified the house-elves out of their wits—" **

"They love it here." Cris said.

"They do seem really happy here." Hermione said.

**Clang.**

**Hermione had knocked over her golden goblet. Pumpkin juice spread steadily over the tablecloth, staining several feet of white linen orange, but Hermione paid no attention.**

**"There are house-elves here?" she said, staring, horror-struck, at Nearly Headless Nick. "Here at Hogwarts?"**

**"Certainly," said Nearly Headless Nick, looking surprised at her reaction. "The largest number in any dwelling in Britain, I believe. Over a hundred."**

"That's a lot." Gwen said.

"Well how else do you keep up with a castle?" Bill asked.

"That's true, just as long as the elves aren't mistreated then that's okay." Gwen said.

**"I've never seen one!" said Hermione.**

"You're not supposed to." Charlie said.

"You've seen them?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"They aren't hard to find when you know where they are." Ron said.

"You three found them too?" Sirius asked with a smile.

"Hermione found them and dragged us down to them." Cris said.

**"Well, they hardly ever leave the kitchen by day, do they?" said Nearly Headless Nick. "They come out at night to do a bit of cleaning… see to the fires and so on… I mean, you're not supposed to see them, are you? That's the mark of a good house-elf, isn't it, that you don't know it's there?"**

**Hermione stared at him.**

**"But they get paid?" she said. "They get holidays, don't they? And - and sick leave, and pensions, and everything?"**

"And the start of Mia's tangent." Cris said. Hermione threw a pillow at her which she dodged and it hit Fred.

**Nearly Headless Nick chortled so much that his ruff slipped and his head flopped off, dangling on the inch or so of ghostly skin and muscle that still attached it to his neck.**

**"Sick leave and pensions?" he said, pushing his head back onto his shoulders and securing it once more with his ruff. "House-elves don't want sick leave and pensions!"**

**Hermione looked down at her hardly touched plate of food, then put her knife and fork down upon it and pushed it away from her.**

**"Oh c'mon, 'Er-my-knee," said Ron, accidentally spraying Cris with bits of Yorkshire pudding.**

"That was really disgusting, you know that right." Cris said.

"Sorry, Bolt." Ron said.

**"Oops — sorry, 'Ris —" He swallowed. "You won't get them sick leave by starving yourself!"**

**"Slave labor," said Hermione, breathing hard through her nose. "That's what made this dinner. Slave labor."**

**And she refused to eat another bite.**

"That will make them think that you didn't like it and upset them." Sirius said.

"I didn't know that at the time." Hermione said.

**The rain was still drumming heavily against the high, dark glass. Another clap of thunder shook the windows, and the stormy ceiling flashed, illuminating the golden plates as the remains of the first course vanished and were replaced, instantly, with puddings.**

**"Treacle tart, Hermione!" said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. "Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!"**

"Uh, I'm hungry." Keiran said.

"You get that from your father." Robin said with a smile.

**But Hermione gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall that he gave up.**

"It is really similar." Cris said.

"It is?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Ron, Cris, the twins, Ginny and Neville said.

**When the puddings too had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.**

**"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered," ("Hmph!" said Hermione) "I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.**

**"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it." **

"Did anyone?" Bill asked.

"We did," The twins and the marauders said.

"Why am I not surprised." Cris asked.

"Because you know us." Fred said.

**The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.**

**"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."**

"No!" cried Prongs and Padfoot.

"Why?" Moony asked.

"The tournament." Lily suggested.

"That could be it." Moony said.

**"What?" Cris gasped. She looked around at Fred and George, her fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"**

**But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.**

**A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table.**

"He must be the new DADA teacher." Gwen said.

"Yep," Cris said.

**A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.**

**The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Cris had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.**

The marauders turned to Moody, it sounded like him.

"He sounds frightening," Gwen said.

**One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.**

"That's really creepy." Al said.

"No kidding," Gwen said.

**The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words Cris couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.**

**The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.**

**"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."**

"Lucky," Padfoot said.

"At least you get two competent teachers in a row." Lily said.

**It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students clapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him. **

"I'm not that scary am I?" Moody asked.

"You are, at first glance." Gwen said.

"Good," Moody said.

**"Moody?" Cris muttered to Ron. "Mad-Eye Moody? The one your dad went to help this morning?"**

**"Must be," said Ron in a low, awed voice.**

**"What happened to him?" Hermione whispered. "What happened to his face?"**

**"Dunno," Ron whispered back, watching Moody with fascination.**

"He was the first battle scarred Auror I've seen." Ron said.

"You have a few scars as well Uncle Ron." James said.

"What?!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

"Well he is an Auror with mum, the both of them a few scars here and there." Al said.

**Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his traveling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. **

**As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Cris saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.**

**Dumbledore cleared his throat.**

**"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."**

"I don't believe it." Padfoot said grumbling.

"Believe Pads, they brought it back." Prongs said.

**"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley loudly.**

**The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.**

**"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."**

"Would you like to hear the rest of it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Maybe some other time Albus," McGonagall said. He nodded and motioned for Teddy to continue reading.

**Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.**

The group chuckled; McGonagall did almost the same thing moments ago.

**"Er - but maybe this is not the time… no…" said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.**

**"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."**

**"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Cris herself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago. **

"Your father is coming out of you again." Lily said shaking her head with a smile on her face.

**"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.**

"Yeah right," Cris mumbled under her breath.

**"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."**

**"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches.**

"Did you really want to?" Cris asked.

"It sounded like fun, but after we saw the tasks…." George broke off fearing to upset Cris; these events were still pretty fresh in most of the groups mind.

**He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Cris could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.**

**"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.**

"Good you're too young," Lily said. Cris looked down; her mum won't be saying that for long.

**This" — Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.**

"Fred and George are going to try, aren't they?" Gwen asked.

"Of course they will." Mrs. Weasley said with an exasperated sigh.

"**The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"**

**Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.**

"**They can't do that!" said George Weasley, who had not joined the crowd moving toward the door, but was standing up and glaring at Dumbledore. "We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?"**

"**They're not stopping me entering," said Fred stubbornly, also scowling at the top table. "The champions'll get to do all sorts of stuff you'd never be allowed to do normally. And a thousand Galleons prize money!" **

"How do you expect to enter?" Padfoot asked.

"We have our ways." George said.

"This I can't wait for." Prongs said.

**"Yeah," said Ron, a faraway look on his face. "Yeah, a thousand Galleons…"**

**"Come on," said Hermione, "we'll be the only ones left here if you don't move."**

**Cris, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George set off for the entrance hall, Fred and George debating the ways in which Dumbledore might stop those who were under seventeen from entering the tournament.**

**"Who's this impartial judge who's going to decide who the champions are?" said Cris.**

**"Dunno," said Fred, "but it's them we'll have to fool. I reckon a couple of drops of Aging Potion might do it, George…" **

"That wouldn't work." Moony said.

"It was worth a shot." George said with a shrug.

**"Dumbledore knows you're not of age, though," said Ron.**

**"Yeah, but he's not the one who decides who the champion is, is he?" said Fred shrewdly. "Sounds to me like once this judge knows who wants to enter, he'll choose the best from each school and never mind how old they are. Dumbledore's trying to stop us giving our names."**

**"People have died, though!" said Hermione in a worried voice as they walked through a door concealed behind a tapestry and started up another, narrower staircase.**

**"Yeah," said Fred airily, "but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we find out how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?"**

"I would," Padfoot said.

**"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked Cris. "Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But I s'pose they might want someone older… Dunno if we've learned enough…"**

**"I definitely haven't," came Neville's gloomy voice from behind Fred and George. "I expect my gran'd want me to try, though. She's always going on about how I should be upholding the family honor. I'll just have to — oops…"**

Neville blushed and Ginny kissed his cheek much to the displeasure to her brothers.

**Neville's foot had sunk right through a step halfway up the staircase.**

"I always forget about that step." Neville said.

"Don't worry about it," Cris said thinking about the time the step caught her.

**There were many of these trick stairs at Hogwarts; it was second nature to most of the older students to jump this particular step, but Neville's memory was notoriously poor. Cris and Ron seized him under the armpits and pulled him out, while a suit of armor at the top of the stairs creaked and clanked, laughing wheezily.**

**"Shut it, you," said Ron, banging down its visor as they passed. They made their way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, which was concealed behind a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.**

**"Password?" she said as they approached.**

**"Balderdash," said George, "a prefect downstairs told me."**

**The portrait swung forward to reveal a hole in the wall through which they all climbed. A crackling fire warmed the circular common room, which was full of squashy armchairs and tables. Hermione cast the merrily dancing flames a dark look, and Cris distinctly heard her mutter "Slave labor" before bidding them good night and disappearing through the doorway to the girls' dormitory.**

"You know right then I was really grateful that I didn't sleep there." Cris said.

"Why?" Hermione asked. Cris didn't answer but Hermione knew it was because of the whole house-elf issue.

**Cris, Ron, and Neville climbed up the last, spiral staircase until they reached their own dormitory, which was situated at the top of the tower. Five four-poster beds with deep crimson hangings stood against the walls, each with its owner's trunk at the foot. Dean and Seamus were already getting into bed; Seamus had pinned his Ireland rosette to his headboard, and Dean had tacked up a poster of Viktor Krum over his bedside table. His old poster of the West Ham football team was pinned right next to it.**

**"Mental," Ron sighed, shaking his head at the completely stationary soccer players.**

"It's not to Muggles though." Hermione said.

"I know," Ron said blushing ever brightly.

**Cris, Ron, and Neville got into their pajamas and into bed, Cris in her bed with the curtains closed. Someone - a house-elf, no doubt - had placed warming pans between the sheets. It was extremely comfortable, lying there in bed and listening to the storm raging outside.**

**"I might go in for it, you know," Ron said sleepily through the darkness, "if Fred and George find out how to… the tournament… you never know, do you?"**

**"S'pose not…"**

**Cris rolled over in bed, a series of dazzling new pictures forming in her mind's eye… She had hoodwinked the impartial judge into believing she was seventeen… she had become Hogwarts champion… she was standing on the grounds, her arms raised in triumph in front of the whole school, all of whom were applauding and screaming… she had just won the Triwizard Tournament. Cedric's face stood out particularly clearly in the blurred crowd, his face glowing with admiration… Cris grinned into her pillow, exceptionally glad that Ron couldn't see what she could.**

"You have really weird thoughts, Bolt." Ron said. Cris blushed and hid her face in George's chest.

"That's the chapter." Teddy said handing the book to Keiran.


	15. Chapter 13: Mad-Eye Moody

"**Chapter 13: Mad-Eye Moody," **Keiran read.

"This should be an interesting chapter." Sirius said.

"No kidding," Prongs said.

**The storm had blown itself out by the following morning, though the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy; heavy clouds of pewter gray swirled overhead as Cris, Ron, and Hermione examined their new course schedules at breakfast. A few seats along, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan were discussing magical methods of aging themselves and bluffing their way into the Triwizard Tournament.**

"What am I going to do with you two?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Well we've survived into the future." Fred said.

"That should count for something." George said. Mrs. Weasley smiled and nodded her head.

**"Today's not bad… outside all morning," said Ron, who was running his finger down the Monday column of his schedule. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures… damn it, we're still with the Slytherins…"**

"As long as you don't have a repeat from the first lesson the year before then you would be fine." Charlie said. The trio, Neville and Draco looked at each and shuddered thinking about what they had to do that year.

**"Double Divination this afternoon," Cris groaned, looking down. Divination was her least favorite subject, apart from Potions. Professor Trelawney kept predicting Cris' death, which she found extremely annoying. She should have talked to McGonagall about switching classes.**

**"****You should have given it up like me, shouldn't you?" said Hermione briskly, buttering herself some toast. "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy." **

"I really should have." Cris said.

"It's okay, you have the rest of this year and then you can drop it." Sirius said.

"I know." Cris said.

**"****You're eating again, I notice," said Ron, watching Hermione adding liberal amounts of jam to her toast too.**

**"****I've decided there are better ways of making a stand about elf rights," said Hermione haughtily.**

"Like what?" Gwen asked. Hermione looked embarrassed but didn't answer because Cris and Ron were laughing behind their hands trying to stifle their laughter.

**"****Yeah… and you were hungry," said Ron, grinning.**

"That was true," Hermione said still red.

**There was a sudden rustling noise above them, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows carrying the morning mail. Instinctively, Cris looked up, but there was no sign of white among the mass of brown and gray. The owls circled the tables, looking for the people to whom their letters and packages were addressed. A large tawny owl soared down to Neville Longbottom and deposited a parcel into his lap - Neville almost always forgot to pack something. On the other side of the Hall Draco Malfoy's eagle owl had landed on his shoulder, carrying what looked like his usual supply of sweets and cakes from home. Trying to ignore the sinking feeling of disappointment in her stomach, Cris returned to her porridge. Was it possible that something had happened to Hedwig, and that Sirius hadn't even got his letter? **

"No, I got it." Sirius said.

"Then what was taking so long?" Prongs asked.

"Traveling," Sirius said simply but didn't say anything else.

**Her preoccupation lasted all the way across the sodden vegetable patch until they arrived in greenhouse three, but here she was distracted by Professor Sprout showing the class the ugliest plants Cris had ever seen. Indeed, they looked less like plants than thick, black, giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large, shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid. **

"They are," the magical kids said.

"I hope it's not dangerous." Gwen mumbled.

**"****Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus -"**

**"****The what?" said Seamus Finnigan, sounding revolted.**

"Eww," Gwen said.

"It's not that bad, just as long as you don't get any on your skin, then you will be fine." Neville said.

**"****Pus, Finnigan, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, bubotuber pus." **

"What can it do?" Gwen asked.

"You'll find out." Hermione said going red.

**Squeezing the bubotubers was disgusting, but oddly satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth, which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the bottles as Professor Sprout had indicated, and by the end of the lesson had collected several pints. "This'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy," said Professor Sprout, stoppering the last bottle with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."**

**"****Like poor Eloise Midgen," said Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice. "She tried to curse hers off." **

"Does that work? The pus I mean." Gwen asked.

"Yes, some students do use it like that." McGonagall said.

"And yet some curse them off?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Remus said.

"That doesn't sound like fun." Gwen said.

**"****Silly girl," said Professor Sprout, shaking her head. "But Madam Pomfrey fixed her nose back on in the end."**

**A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and the class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid's small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.**

"What does Hagrid plan for this year?" Padfoot asked.

"Something you never want to meet." Cris said.

**Hagrid was standing outside his hut, one hand on the collar of his enormous black boarhound, Fang. There were several open wooden crates on the ground at his feet, and Fang was whimpering and straining at his collar, apparently keen to investigate the contents more closely. **

**As they drew nearer, an odd rattling noise reached their ears, punctuated by what sounded like minor explosions.**

"What the hell did he bring in this year?" Lily asked.

**"****Mornin'!" Hagrid said, grinning at Cris, Ron, and Hermione. "Be'er wait fer the Slytherins, they won' want ter miss this - Blast-Ended Skrewts!"**

"What the hell is that?" Charlie asked.

"You mean you don't know what they are?" Bill asked.

"If I knew would I be asking?" Charlie asked.

"Good point." Bill said.

"They are something you don't want to go near." Hermione said.

**"****Come again?" said Ron.**

**Hagrid pointed down into the crates.**

**"****Eurgh!" squealed Lavender Brown, jumping backward. "Eurgh" just about summed up the Blast-Ended Skrewts in Cris' opinion. They looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate, each about six inches long, crawling over one another, bumping blindly into the sides of the boxes. They were giving off a very powerful smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of a skrewt, and with a small phut, it would be propelled forward several inches. **

"They sound disgusting," Gwen said.

"And very dangerous." Mrs. Weasley said worriedly.

**"****On'y jus' hatched," said Hagrid proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!"**

**"And why would we **_**want**_** to raise them?" said a cold voice.**

"Draco," the group said. Draco blushed brightly and looked down only for Luna to grab his hand again.

**The Slytherins had arrived. The speaker was Draco Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle were chuckling appreciatively at his words.**

**Hagrid looked stumped at the question.**

**"****I mean, what do they do?" asked Malfoy. "What is the point of them?" **

**Hagrid opened his mouth, apparently thinking hard; there was a few seconds' pause, then he said roughly, **

"I bet he bred them himself." Bill said.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Charlie said.

**"****Tha's next lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things - I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer - I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake - just try 'em out with a bit of each."**

**"****First pus and now this," muttered Seamus. **

"The life of a teenage witch and wizard." George said sadly.

"You get used to it." Cris said.

"That's true," Fred said.

**Nothing but deep affection for Hagrid could have made Cris, Ron, and Hermione pick up squelchy handfuls of frog liver and lower them into the crates to tempt the Blast-Ended Skrewts. Cris couldn't suppress the suspicion that the whole thing was entirely pointless, because the skrewts didn't seem to have mouths.**

**"****Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me."**

**Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.**

**"****It's end exploded!" said Dean angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.**

**"****Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.**

"Typical Hagrid," Padfoot said with a fond smile.

"Just don't get on his bad side then you'll be fine." Prongs said.

**"****Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown again. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"**

**"****Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). "I reckon they're the males… The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies… I think they might be ter suck blood**

"That's pleasant," Gwen said.

"That's Hagrid for you." Charlie said.

**"****Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"**

"Hagrid," the group said.

**"****Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"**

"Unless you're Hagrid." Sirius said.

"And Norberta is doing really good." Charlie said.

"Really?" Cris asked.

"Yep," Charlie said.

**Cris and Ron grinned at Hagrid, who gave them a furtive smile from behind his bushy beard. Hagrid would have liked nothing better than a pet dragon, as Cris, Ron, and Hermione knew only too well - he had owned one for a brief period during their first year, a vicious Norwegian Ridgeback by the name of Norbert.**

"Norberta," Charlie corrected.

"We get it, Uncle Charlie." Teddy said.

**Hagrid simply loved monstrous creatures, the more lethal, the better.**

**"****Well, at least the skrewts are small," said Ron as they made their way back up to the castle for lunch an hour later.**

**"****They are now," said Hermione in an exasperated voice, "but once Hagrid's found out what they eat, I expect they'll be six feet long."**

"That's true," Cris said remembering what they were like at the end of the year.

**"****Well, that won't matter if they turn out to cure seasickness or something, will it?" said Ron, grinning slyly at her.**

**"****You know perfectly well I only said that to shut Malfoy up," said Hermione. "As a matter of fact I think he's right. The best thing to do would be to stamp on the lot of them before they start attacking us all."**

"You agreed with me?" Draco asked.

"I just thought that you had point." Hermione said.

**They sat down at the Gryffindor table and helped themselves to lamb chops and potatoes. Hermione began to eat so fast that Cris and Ron stared at her.**

**"****Er - is this the new stand on elf rights?" said Ron. "You're going to make yourself puke instead?"**

"They won't like that either." Padfoot said.

"That wasn't what I was trying to do." Hermione said.

**"****No," said Hermione, with as much dignity as she could muster with her mouth bulging with sprouts. "I just want to get to the library."**

"You don't have any homework yet though." Robin said.

"It's for the House-Elves." Hermione said.

**"****What?" said Ron in disbelief. "Hermione - it's the first day back! We haven't even got homework yet!"**

**Hermione shrugged and continued to shovel down her food as though she had not eaten for days. Then she leapt to her feet, said, "See you at dinner!" and departed at high speed.**

**When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons, Cris and Ron set off for North Tower where, at the top of a tightly spiraling staircase, a silver stepladder led to a circular trapdoor in the ceiling, and the room where Professor Trelawney lived. **

"Great, more insane predictions of my daughter's death." Prongs said.

"Something like that." Cris said.

**The familiar sweet perfume spreading from the fire met their nostrils as they emerged at the top of the stepladder. As ever, the curtains were all closed; the circular room was bathed in a dim reddish light cast by the many lamps, which were all draped with scarves and shawls. Cris and Ron walked through the mass of occupied chintz chairs and poufs that cluttered the room, and sat down at the same small circular table.**

**"****Good day," said the misty voice of Professor Trelawney right behind Cris, making her jump.**

"That's the only thing she succeeds at." Bill said.

"She does do a very good job of it." Sirius said.

**A very thin woman with enormous glasses that made her eyes appear far too large for her face, Professor Trelawney was peering down at Cris with the tragic expression she always wore whenever she saw her. **

**The usual large amount of beads, chains, and bangles glittered upon her person in the firelight.**

**"****You are preoccupied, my dear," she said mournfully to Cris. "My inner eye sees past your brave face to the troubled soul within. And I regret to say that your worries are not baseless. I see difficult times ahead for you, alas… most difficult… I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass… and perhaps sooner than you think…" **

"It didn't happen though." Cris said.

"Good," Prongs said.

**Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. Ron rolled his eyes at Cris, who looked stonily back. Professor Trelawney swept past them and seated herself in a large winged armchair before the fire, facing the class. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who deeply admired Professor Trelawney, were sitting on poufs very close to her.**

"I've always wondered why they like her." Cris said.

"Don't try and understand it." Ginny said.

"I know, it's just crazy though." Cris said.

**"****My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars," she said. "The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle…"**

**But Cris' thoughts had drifted. The perfumed fire always made her feel sleepy and dull-witted, and Professor Trelawney's rambling talks on fortune-telling never held her exactly spellbound - though she couldn't help thinking about what she had just said to her. 'I fear the thing you dread will indeed come to pass… '**

**But Hermione was right, Cris thought irritably, Professor Trelawney really was an old fraud. She wasn't dreading anything at the moment at all… well, unless you counted her fears that Sirius had been caught… but what did Professor Trelawney know? She had long since come to the conclusion that her brand of fortunetelling was really no more than lucky guesswork and a spooky manner.**

**Except, of course, for that time at the end of last term, when she had made the prediction about Voldemort rising again… and Dumbledore himself had said that he thought that trance had been genuine, when Cris had described it to him.**

"Don't worry Bambi, he doesn't get caught." Fred said seriously.

"I know that goofball." Cris said rolling her eyes.

**"****Cris!" Ron muttered.**

**"****What?"**

**Cris looked around; the whole class was staring at her. She sat up straight; she had been almost dozing off, lost in the heat and her thoughts.**

**"****I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn," said Professor Trelawney, a faint note of resentment in her voice at the fact that she had obviously not been hanging on her words.**

**"****Born under - what, sorry?" said Cris.**

**"****Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!" said Professor Trelawney, sounding definitely irritated that he wasn't riveted by this news. "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth… Your dark hair… your mean stature… tragic losses so young in life… I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?" **

"Is she stupid or something?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know." Cris said.

**"****No," said Cris, "I was born in July."**

**Ron hastily turned his laugh into a hacking cough.**

**Half an hour later, each of them had been given a complicated circular chart, and was attempting to fill in the position of the planets at their moment of birth. It was dull work, requiring much consultation of timetables and calculation of angles.**

**"****I've got two Neptune's here," said Cris after a while, frowning down at her piece of parchment, "that can't be right, can it?"**

**"****Aaaaah," said Ron, imitating Professor Trelawney's mystical whisper, "when two Neptune's appear in the sky, it is a sure sign that a midget in glasses is being born, Cris…"**

"Ron!" Hermione said slapping his arm.

"Actually mum and Aunt Hermione are the same height; they are 5'10"." Lily J said.

"So you get to become the same height as Lily." Robin said with a smile.

**Seamus and Dean, who were working nearby, sniggered loudly, though not loudly enough to mask the excited squeals from Lavender Brown - "Oh Professor, look! I think I've got an unexpected planet! Oooh, which one's that, Professor?"**

**"****It is Uranus, my dear," said Professor Trelawney, peering down at the chart.**

**"****Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?" said Ron.**

"I forgot you said that." Cris said with a laugh as Hermione glared at him and Ron blushed bright red.

"I did too." Ron said.

"Did you have a crush on her?" Bill asked.

"No, never in a million years." Ron said.

**Most unfortunately, Professor Trelawney heard him, and it was this, perhaps, that made her give them so much homework at the end of the class.**

**"****A detailed analysis of the way the planetary movements in the coming month will affect you, with reference to your personal chart," she snapped, sounding much more like Professor McGonagall than her usual airy-fairy self. "I want it ready to hand in next Monday, and no excuses!"**

**"****Miserable old bat," said Ron bitterly as they joined the crowds descending the staircases back to the Great Hall and dinner. "That'll take all weekend, that will…"**

**"****Lots of homework?" said Hermione brightly, catching up with them. "Professor Vector didn't give us any at all!"**

"Lucky," the marauders said.

**"****Well, bully for Professor Vector," said Ron moodily.**

**They reached the entrance hall, which was packed with people queuing for dinner. They had just joined the end of the line, when a loud voice rang out behind them.**

**"****Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione turned. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing there, each looking thoroughly pleased about something.**

"Whatever it is it can't be good." Sirius said.

**"****What?" said Ron shortly.**

**"Your dad's in the paper, Weasley!" said Malfoy, brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and speaking very loudly, so that everyone in the packed entrance hall could hear. "Listen to this!"**

"You really had to be an asshole about that, didn't you." Remus said.

**FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**

**It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Recently under fire for its poor crowd control at the Quidditch World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley,**

"That's not his name." Lily snapped.

"She never gets names or ages right." Cris said.

**of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."**

**Malfoy looked up.**

**"****Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?" he crowed.**

"Wow, you were being a real git, you know that." Gwen said.

"I know." Draco muttered.

**Everyone in the entrance hall was listening now. Malfoy straightened the paper with a flourish and read on:**

**Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr. Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer Daily Prophet questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene.**

**"****And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"**

Mrs. Weasley looked very red and glared angrily at the boy in the room.

"I would like to see you give birth to seven children." Mrs. Weasley said. Draco blushed but didn't say anything else.

**Ron was shaking with fury. Everyone was staring at him.**

**"****Get stuffed, Malfoy," said Cris. "C'mon, Ron…"**

**"****Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Malfoy. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?" **

"You really need to learn to shut up, you might get decked again." Gwen said.

"What?" the purebloods asked.

"A Muggle saying meaning punching someone." Cris said.

**"****You know your mother, Malfoy?" said Cris - both she and Hermione had grabbed the back of Ron's robes to stop him from launching himself at Malfoy - **

"That would have been very bad." Charlie said.

**"****that expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or was it just because you were with her?"**

Draco blushed brighter as the group laughed.

"Oh dear, my wit has shown itself again." Lily said with a smile on her face.

"I was really trying to control myself." Cris said.

**Malfoy's pale face went slightly pink.**

**"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter."**

**"****Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Cris, turning away.**

**BANG!**

"You didn't." Sirius growled.

"He never got the chance." Cris said with a grin.

**Several people screamed - Cris felt something white-hot graze the side of her face - she plunged her hand into her robes for her wand, but before she'd even touched it, she heard a second loud BANG, and a roar that echoed through the entrance hall.**

**"****OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"**

"Moody," Padfoot said.

"This should be good." Prongs said.

"It was," the trio, Neville, Ginny and the twins said.

**Cris spun around. Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase. His wand was out and it was pointing right at a pure white ferret, which was shivering on the stone-flagged floor, exactly where Malfoy had been standing. **

The group laughed really loudly even Draco did.

**There was a terrified silence in the entrance hall. Nobody but Moody was moving a muscle. Moody turned to look at Cris — at least, his normal eye was looking at Cris; the other one was pointing into the back of his head.**

**"Did he get you?" Moody growled. His voice was low and gravelly.**

**"No," said Cris, "missed."**

**"****LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.**

"Leave what?" Gwen asked.

**"****Leave - what?" Cris said, bewildered.**

**"****Not you - him!" Moody growled, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Crabbe, who had just frozen, about to pick up the white ferret. It seemed that Moody's rolling eye was magical and could see out of the back of his head.**

"It can?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, it can." Cris said.

**Moody started to limp toward Crabbe, Goyle, and the ferret, which gave a terrified squeak and took off, streaking toward the dungeons.**

**"****I don't think so!" roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again - it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more.**

**"****I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned," growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. **

"But didn't you just do that?" Gwen asked. Moody didn't say anything so Cris looked over at her friend.

"Don't worry about it." Cris said with a smile plastered on her face.

"Alright then," Gwen said quirking an eyebrow.

**"****Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…"**

**The ferret flew through the air, its legs and tail flailing helplessly. "Never - do - that - again -" said Moody, speaking each word as the ferret hit the stone floor and bounced upward again.**

**"****Professor Moody!" said a shocked voice. **

"Minnie!" the marauders and the twins cried.

**Professor McGonagall was coming down the marble staircase with her arms full of books.**

**"****Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly, bouncing the ferret still higher.**

"How do you do that?" Robin asked.

"Don't question it Kit." Sirius said.

"I know, but still." Robin said.

**"****What - what are you doing?" said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret's progress through the air.**

**"****Teaching," said Moody.**

**"****Teach - Moody, is that a student?" shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms.**

**"****Yep," said Moody.**

"Again with the calmness." Gwen said.

"He's always like that in some situations." Remus said.

**"****No!" cried Professor McGonagall, running down the stairs and pulling out her wand; a moment later, with a loud snapping noise, Draco Malfoy had reappeared, lying in a heap on the floor with his sleek blond hair all over his now brilliantly pink face. He got to his feet, wincing.**

"I was just bruised and that's when I started to rethink my actions to you guys." Draco said.

"Wow, some good did come from the imposter." Cris whispered.

"No kidding," the twins whispered back.

**"****Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall wieldy. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"**

"He probably ignored it." Sirius said with a snort.

**"****He might've mentioned it, yeah," said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock -"**

**"****We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"**

"Which doesn't work to well when it's Snape." Robin whispered.

"I agree," Sirius and Remus whispered back.

**"****I'll do that, then," said Moody, staring at Malfoy with great dislike.**

**Malfoy, whose pale eyes were still watering with pain and humiliation, looked malevolently up at Moody and muttered something in which the words "my father" were distinguishable. **

"Wouldn't be able to do anything." Draco finished under his breath.

"Damn right," Charlie said.

**"****Oh yeah?" said Moody quietly, limping forward a few steps, the dull clunk of his wooden leg echoing around the hall. "Well, I know your father of old, boy… You tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son… you tell him that from me… Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"**

**"****Yes," said Malfoy resentfully.**

**"****Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape… Come on, you…" **

"That wasn't a great sight to see." Draco said.

"I don't think I would have wanted to see it as well." Cris said.

**And he seized Malfoy's upper arm and marched him off toward the dungeons.**

**Professor McGonagall stared anxiously after them for a few moments, then waved her wand at her fallen books, causing them to soar up into the air and back into her arms.**

**"****Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Cris and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table a few minutes later, surrounded by excited talk on all sides about what had just happened.**

**"****Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.**

**"****Because I want to fix that in my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret."**

Draco blushed profusely and the group chuckled once again.

**Cris and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates.**

**"****He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good, really, that Professor McGonagall stopped it -"**

**"****Hermione!" said Ron furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!" **

"It's not that anymore." Ron whispered to Hermione who blushed at that.

**Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed again.**

**"****Don't tell me you're going back to the library this evening?" said Cris, watching her.**

**"****Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."**

"But it's only the first day back." Padfoot said shocked.

"Maybe she just wants a head start." Moony said with a shrug.

**"****But you told us Professor Vector -"**

**"****It's not schoolwork," she said. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed. No sooner had she gone than her seat was taken by Fred Weasley.**

**"****Moody!" he said. "How cool is he?"**

"So you've already had his class?" Prongs asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Fred said nodding his head.

**"****Beyond cool," said George, sitting down opposite Fred. "Supercool," said the twins' best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. "We had him this afternoon," he told Cris and Ron.**

**"****What was it like?" said Cris eagerly.**

**Fred, George, and Lee exchanged looks full of meaning.**

**"****Never had a lesson like it," said Fred.**

**"****He knows, man," said Lee.**

**"****Knows what?" said Ron, leaning forward.**

"What it's like of course." Lily said.

"I know," Ron said.

**"****Knows what it's like to be out there doing it," said George impressively.**

**"****Doing what?" said Cris.**

**"****Fighting the Dark Arts," said Fred.**

**"****He's seen it all," said George.**

**"****Mazing," said Lee.**

**Ron dived into his bag for his schedule.**

**"****We haven't got him till Thursday!" he said in a disappointed voice.**

"Now that sucks," Prongs said.

"It was worth the wait though." Ron said.

"It was a good lesson." Hermione said.

"That's the chapter." Keiran said handing the book to his dad.


	16. Chapter 14: The Unforgivable Curses

Mrs. Weasley had dinner made and they had just finished eating so Sirius picked up the book and started the next chapter.

"**Chapter 14: The Unforgivable Curses," **Sirius read.

"Moody shows you the curses?" Lily asked pale. Cris nodded and Sirius started the chapter.

**The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions. Professor Snape, who seemed to have attained new levels of vindictiveness over the summer, **

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me at all." Bill said.

**gave Neville detention, and Neville returned from it in a state of nervous collapse, having been made to disembowel a barrel full of horned toads.**

"That's gross." Gwen said.

**"****You know why Snape's in such a foul mood, don't you?" said Ron to Cris as they watched Hermione teaching Neville a Scouring Charm to remove the frog guts from under his fingernails.**

**"****Yeah," said Cris. "Moody."**

"So simple yet so true." Sirius said.

**It was common knowledge that Snape really wanted the Dark Arts job, and he had now failed to get it for the fourth year running. **

"Actually it's been a lot longer than that." Bill said.

"He's been after it since we were in school." Charlie said.

"Have you thought about giving up?" Gwen asked. Snape didn't answer so Sirius kept reading.

**Snape had disliked all of their previous Dark Arts teachers, and shown it - but he seemed strangely wary of displaying overt animosity to Mad-Eye Moody. Indeed, whenever Cris saw the two of them together - at mealtimes, or when they passed in the corridors - she had the distinct impression that Snape was avoiding Moody's eye, whether magical or normal.**

**"****I reckon Snape's a bit scared of him, you know," Cris said thoughtfully.**

**"Imagine if Moody turned Snape into a horned toad," said Ron, his eyes misting over, "and bounced him all around his dungeon…"**

"I would love to see that." Padfoot said with a wistful smile.

"Maybe we can do that when we get back." Prongs whispered to his best friends. Padfoot nodded but Moony looked thoughtful.

"What you three are planning, don't do it." Lily whispered to them. They nodded but Padfoot and Prongs still wanted to do it.

**The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody's first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung. The only person missing was Hermione, who turned up just in time for the lesson.**

"Wow, one would think that you would be the first one to be there." Charlie said. Hermione glared at him but didn't say anything else.

**"****Been in the -"**

**"****Library." Cris finished her sentence for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get decent seats." **

"You tend to do that a lot." Hermione said with a smile.

"I know," Cris said with a smile.

"You know, that kind of makes it sound like a show." Sirius said.

"It kind of was." Ron said.

**They hurried into three chairs right in front of the teacher's desk, took out their copies of The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, and waited, unusually quiet. Soon they heard Moody's distinctive clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking as strange and frightening as ever. They could just see his clawed, wooden foot protruding from underneath his robes.**

**"****You can put those away," he growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting down, "those books. You won't need them."**

"Nice, another practical lesson." Padfoot said sitting on the edge of his seat.

"This should be good since it's Moody." Prongs said sitting on the edge of his seat as well.

**They returned the books to their bags, Ron looking excited.**

"Well of course I was, I heard a lot of good things from Dad about Moody." Ron said.

"Thanks Arthur," Moody said gruffly. Mr. Weasley nodded but didn't say anything else.

**Moody took out a register, shook his long mane of grizzled gray hair out of his twisted and scarred face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swiveled around, fixing upon each student as he or she answered.**

**"****Right then," he said, when the last person had declared themselves present, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"**

"Wow, you really didn't have many competent teachers then." Gwen said.

"No not really." Cris said.

**There was a general murmur of assent.**

**"But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses," said Moody. "So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark -"**

"**What, aren't you staying?" Ron blurted out.**

"The job's jinxed remember?" Bill said with amusement in his voice. Ron blushed but didn't say anything else.

**Moody's magical eye spun around to stare at Ron; Ron looked extremely apprehensive, but after a moment Moody smiled - the first time Cris had seen him do so. The effect was to make his heavily scarred face look more twisted and contorted than ever, but it was nevertheless good to know that he ever did anything as friendly as smile. **

**Ron looked deeply relieved.**

"Don't worry; I wouldn't curse you for that." Moody said with the same twisted smile.

**"****You'll be Arthur Weasley's son, eh?" Moody said. "Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… Yeah, I'm staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore… One year, and then back to my quiet retirement."**

"Quiet? You call this quiet Mad-Eye?" Sirius asked.

"No, not really," Moody said in amusement.

**He gave a harsh laugh, and then clapped his gnarled hands together.**

**"****So - straight into it. Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you Countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. **

"But since the Dark Mark appeared it would be best to get them ready for them." Prongs said looking down into his lap. He was wondering what happened to his parents.

**You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it till then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you've never seen? A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't going to tell you what he's about to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I'm talking."**

**Lavender jumped and blushed. She had been showing Parvati her completed horoscope under the desk. Apparently Moody's magical eye could see through solid wood, as well as out of the back of his head.**

"It sure can," Sirius said with a wince.

"It serves you right for what you and Potter were going to do." Moody said gruffly.

"What did they do?" Lily asked.

"They attempted to play a prank on me and the other trainees, I caught them and the prank blew in their faces." Moody said with a slight smile remembering the incident. Robin and Remus were also laughing about it and Sirius continued reading to stop them from laughing.

**"****So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"**

**Several hands rose tentatively into the air, including Ron's and Hermione's. **

**Moody pointed at Ron, though his magical eye was still fixed on Lavender.**

**"****Er," said Ron tentatively, "my dad told me about one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"**

**"****Ah, yes," said Moody appreciatively. "Your father would know that one. **

"What is that?" Gwen asked.

"You're going to ask about them all Gwen, so it would be better to just wait for the answer." Cris said. Gwen nodded her head and Sirius continued reading.

**Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse."**

"But what does it do?" Gwen asked to herself.

**Moody got heavily to his mismatched feet, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Three large black spiders were scuttling around inside it. **

Ron shuddered at the memory.

**Cris felt Ron recoil slightly next to her - Ron hated spiders. Moody reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, and held it in the palm of his hand so that they could all see it. He then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"**

**The spider leapt from Moody's hand on a fine thread of silk and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It stretched out its legs rigidly, then did a back flip, breaking the thread and landing on the desk, where it began to cartwheel in circles. Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.**

Gwen laughed but stopped at the look on the faces on the people of the group.

"So it controls people." Gwen said.

"That and much more." Cris said.

**Everyone was laughing - everyone except Moody.**

**"****Think it's funny, do you?" he growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"**

**The laughter died away almost instantly.**

**"****Total control," said Moody quietly as the spider balled itself up and began to roll over and over. "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…" **

"That's terrible." Gwen said.

"It's true though." Hermione said.

**Ron gave an involuntary shudder.**

**"****Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Moody, and Cris knew he was talking about the days in which Voldemort had been all-powerful. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.**

"You couldn't tell?" Gwen asked horrified.

"No, that was the problem with it, you never knew whether the person being questioned was under the curse or not." Remus said.

"There's got to be some way that you can tell." Gwen said.

"If there is, we haven't found it yet." Robin said.

**"****The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone jumped.**

"Mum uses it now." Al said.

"I'm not surprised." Sirius said with a laugh. Cris smiled and her godfather continued reading.

**Moody picked up the somersaulting spider and threw it back into the jar.**

**"****Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?"**

**Hermione's hand flew into the air again and so, to Cris' slight surprise, did Neville's. **

Remus and Robin looked at the boy who was hiding in Ginny's neck, it still haunted him to this day.

**The only class in which Neville usually volunteered information was Herbology which was easily his best subject. Neville looked surprised at his own daring.**

**"****Yes?" said Moody, his magical eye rolling right over to fix on Neville.**

**"****There's one - the Cruciatus Curse," said Neville in a small but distinct voice.**

Both Cris and Neville shuddered, Cris because Voldemort used it on her and Neville because it was used on his parents. The twins and Ginny felt the shudders and held Cris and Neville closer to them as Sirius continued reading a little tensely.

**Moody was looking very intently at Neville, this time with both eyes.**

**"****Your name's Longbottom?" he said, his magical eye swooping down to check the register again.**

**Neville nodded nervously, but Moody made no further inquiries. Turning back to the class at large, he reached into the jar for the next spider and placed it upon the desktop, where it remained motionless, apparently too scared to move.**

**"****The Cruciatus Curse," said Moody. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea," he said, pointing his wand at the spider. "Engorgio!"**

Ron shuddered once again.

**The spider swelled. It was now larger than a tarantula. Abandoning all pretense, Ron pushed his chair backward, as far away from Moody's desk as possible. Moody raised his wand again, pointed it at the spider, and muttered, "Crucio!"**

**At once, the spider's legs bent in upon its body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came from it, but Cris was sure that if it could have given voice, it would have been screaming. **

"It would be," Cris muttered. The twins looked worried and brought her closer to them.

**Moody did not remove his wand, and the spider started to shudder and jerk more violently - "Stop it!" Hermione said shrilly.**

**Cris looked around at her. She was looking, not at the spider, but at Neville, and Cris, following her gaze, saw that Neville's hands were clenched upon the desk in front of him, his knuckles white, his eyes wide and horrified.**

"No," Lily whispered, she guessed why her best friend's son was parentless as well as her daughter.

"What, why?" Prongs asked back in a whisper.

"I think Alice and Frank were tortured into insanity." Lily whispered back wide eyed and tearful.

"You don't know that though." Moony whispered. Lily nodded accepting that for now but fearing that was the answer.

**Moody raised his wand. The spider's legs relaxed, but it continued to twitch.**

**"****Reducio," Moody muttered, and the spider shrank back to its proper size. He put it back into the jar.**

**"****Pain," said Moody softly. "You don't need thumbscrews or knives to torture someone if you can perform the Cruciatus Curse… That one was very popular once too.**

**"****Right… anyone know any others?"**

**Cris looked around. From the looks on everyone's faces, she guessed they were all wondering what was going to happen to the last spider. Hermione's hand shook slightly as, for the third time, she raised it into the air.**

**"****Yes?" said Moody, looking at her.**

**"****Avada Kedavra," Hermione whispered.**

"You're going to show them that?" Lily asked horrified.

"They need to know." Sirius said. Lily nodded but still didn't like that these kids witnessed such a horrible curse.

**Several people looked uneasily around at her, including Ron.**

**"****Ah," said Moody, another slight smile twisting his lopsided mouth. "Yes, the last and worst. Avada Kedavra… the Killing Curse."**

"Killing curse?" Gwen asked wide eyed. The group nodded but didn't say anything else and Sirius continued reading thickly.

**He put his hand into the glass jar, and almost as though it knew what was coming, the third spider scuttled frantically around the bottom of the jar, trying to evade Moody's fingers, but he trapped it, and placed it upon the desktop. It started to scuttle frantically across the wooden surface.**

**Moody raised his wand, and Cris felt a sudden thrill of foreboding.**

**"****Avada Kedavra!" Moody roared.**

**There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air - instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, unmarked, but unmistakably dead. Several of the students stifled cries; Ron had thrown himself backward and almost toppled off his seat as the spider skidded toward him.**

Ron shuddered once again as Gwen's mouth dropped.

"That's all it takes?" Gwen asked in a forced whisper. Cris nodded and Gwen closed her eyes, it was so much worse than a gun, at least you had warning.

**Moody swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor.**

**"****Not nice," he said calmly. "Not pleasant. And there's no Countercurses. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and she's sitting right in front of me." **

"He means you doesn't he?" Gwen asked Cris. Cris nodded and Lily busted into tears and grabbed her daughter in a tight hug.

"How are you alive?" Prongs asked wide eyed and pale.

"Mum saved me, remember in the first book?" Cris asked.

"Vaguely," Prongs admitted.

**Cris felt her face redden as Moody's eyes (both of them) looked into her own. She could feel everyone else looking around at her too. Cris stared at the blank blackboard as though fascinated by it, but not really seeing it at all…**

**So that was how her parents had died… exactly like that spider. **

Cris shuddered, the twins held her tightly as Prongs held Lily.

**Had they been unblemished and unmarked too? Had they simply seen the flash of green light and heard the rush of speeding death, before life was wiped from their bodies?**

Lily had slight tears running down her face, as the rest of the marauders looked down sadly.

**Cris had been picturing her parents' deaths over and over again for three years now, ever since she'd found out they had been murdered, ever since she'd found out what had happened that night: Wormtail had betrayed her parents' whereabouts to Voldemort, who had come to find them at their cottage. How Voldemort had killed Cris' father first. How James Potter had tried to hold him off, while he shouted at his wife to take Cris and run… Voldemort had advanced on Lily Potter, told her to move aside so that he could kill Cris… how she had begged him to kill her instead, refused to stop shielding her daughter…**

Cris buried herself in George's shoulder as Fred and George were rubbing soothing circles on her back. The marauders were looking down and trying not to picture the way their best friends died.

**and so Voldemort had murdered her too, before turning his wand on Cris.**

**Cris knew these details because she had heard her parents' voices when she had fought the Dementors last year - for that was the terrible power of the Dementors: to force their victims to relive the worst memories of their lives, and drown, powerless, in their own despair. **

Cris had silent tears running down her face as the twins kept rubbing circles on her back.

**Moody was speaking again, from a great distance, it seemed to Cris. With a massive effort, she pulled herself back to the present and listened to what Moody was saying.**

**"****Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed. **

"I wouldn't bet on that, Cris could probably kill you." Robin said.

"I don't doubt that." Moody said.

"You mean; I could successfully cast that curse?" Cris asked fearfully.

"You could but I wouldn't try it." Remus said. Cris nodded and tried to get that thought out of her head.

**But that doesn't matter. I'm not here to teach you how to do it.**

"Good," Lily mumbled under her breath.

**"****Now, if there's no counter-curse, why am I showing you? Because you've got to know. You've got to appreciate what the worst is. You don't want to find yourself in a situation where you're facing it. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared, and the whole class jumped again.**

**"****Now… those three curses - Avada Kedavra, Imperius, and Cruciatus - are known as the Unforgivable Curses. The use of any one of them on a fellow human being is enough to earn a life sentence in Azkaban. That's what you're up against. That's what I've got to teach you to fight. You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills… copy this down…"**

**They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang - but when Moody had dismissed them and they had left the classroom, a torrent of talk burst forth. Most people were discussing the curses in awed voices –**

"That's because they don't know." Charlie whispered.

"How could they, I bet their parents don't like to talk about it." Bill said.

"That's true," Charlie said.

**"****Did you see it twitch?"**

**"****- and when he killed it – just like that!"**

"Are they really that stupid?" Gwen asked.

"They were just in awe about it." Cris said.

**They were talking about the lesson, Cris thought, as though it had been some sort of spectacular show, but she hadn't found it very entertaining - and nor, it seemed, had Hermione.**

**"Hurry up," she said tensely to Cris and Ron.**

**"****Not the ruddy library again?" said Ron.**

**"****No," said Hermione curtly, pointing up a side passage. "Neville." Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. **

Neville shuddered again and Ginny was rubbing his back to sooth him.

**"****Neville?" Hermione said gently.**

**Neville looked around.**

**"****Oh hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner, I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"**

**"****Neville, are you all right?" said Hermione.**

**"****Oh yes, I'm fine," Neville gabbled in the same unnaturally high voice. "Very interesting dinner - I mean lesson - what's for eating?"**

**Ron gave Cris a startled look.**

**"****Neville, what -?"**

**But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard.**

"I knew I was right about it." Lily whispered fearfully.

"We don't know that yet," Moony whispered back.

**"****It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on… we can have a cup of tea…"**

**Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. **

"Don't worry, he isn't dangerous to you." Padfoot said.

**He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Cris.**

**"****You all right, are you, Potter?"**

**"****Yes," said Cris, almost defiantly.**

**Moody's blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Cris. Then he said, "You've got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you've got to know. No point pretending… well… come on, Longbottom, I've got some books that might interest you." **

"He gave me books on Herbology." Neville said.

"Alice was always good in that subject." Lily said with a smile.

**Neville looked pleadingly at Cris, Ron, and Hermione, but they didn't say anything, so Neville had no choice but to allow himself to be steered away, one of Moody's gnarled hands on his shoulder.**

**"What was that about?" said Ron, watching Neville and Moody turn the corner.**

**"****I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.**

"**I don't think we want to know." said Cris watching until Neville was out of sight.**

**"****Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Cris as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right -" **

Hermione slapped Ron upside the head and he didn't protest this go around.

"You really need some tact Ron." Ginny said shaking her head.

**But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Cris' face and didn't speak again until they reached the Great Hall, when he said he supposed they had better make a start on Professor Trelawney's predictions tonight, since they would take hours.**

"Just make it up." Tonks said.

"We did," Cris and Ron said.

"And they were ridiculous." Hermione said.

"Trelawney fell for it so we were good." Cris said.

**Hermione did not join in with Cris and Ron's conversation during dinner, but ate furiously fast, and then left for the library again. Cris and Ron walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and Cris, who had been thinking of nothing else all through dinner, now raised the subject of the Unforgivable Curses herself.**

**"****Wouldn't Moody and Dumbledore be in trouble with the Ministry if they knew we'd seen the curses?" Cris asked as they approached the Fat Lady.**

"They most definitely would have been, but you do need to know what they look like." Fudge said.

"You agree with them?" Umbridge asked.

"They shouldn't be taught but there are Death Eaters out there who use them all the time, they need to be weary of them." Fudge said.

"For once, I agree with you Minister." Cris said.

**"****Yeah, probably," said Ron. "But Dumbledore's always done things his way, hasn't he, and Moody's been getting in trouble for years, I reckon. Attacks first and asks questions later - look at his dustbins. Balderdash."**

**The Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the entrance hole, and they climbed into the Gryffindor common room, which was crowded and noisy.**

**"****Shall we get our Divination stuff, then?" said Cris.**

**"****I s'pose," Ron groaned.**

"**It's better to get it done now rather than later." Cris pointed out. **

"She's right," Lily said with a smile.

"I know, it just took getting used to." Ron said.

**They went up to the dormitory to fetch their books and charts, to find Neville there alone, sitting on his bed, reading. He looked a good deal calmer than at the end of Moody's lesson, though still not entirely normal. His eyes were rather red.**

**"****You all right, Neville?" Cris asked him.**

**"****Oh yes," said Neville, "I'm fine, thanks. Just reading this book Professor Moody lent me…"**

**He held up the book: Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean.**

"Alice got that book one year for her birthday." Lily said. Neville smiled, he was happy to have something in common with his mom.

**"****Apparently, Professor Sprout told Professor Moody I'm really good at Herbology," Neville said.**

**There was a faint note of pride in his voice that Cris had rarely heard there before.**

"It's there; you just need to let it out." Cris said.

"I'll try." Neville said with a chuckle.

**"****He thought I'd like this."**

**Telling Neville what Professor Sprout had said, Cris thought, had been a very tactful way of cheering Neville up, for Neville very rarely heard that he was good at anything. It was the sort of thing Professor Lupin would have done.**

"Yes, I would have," Remus said with a smile.

**Cris and Ron took their copies of Unfogging the Future back down to the common room, found a table, and set to work on their predictions for the coming month. An hour later, they had made very little progress, though their table was littered with bits of parchment bearing sums and symbols, and Cris' brain was as fogged as though it had been filled with the fumes from Professor Trelawney's fire.**

**"****I haven't got a clue what this lot's supposed to mean," she said, staring down at a long list of calculations.**

**"You know," said Ron, whose hair was on end because of all the times he had run his fingers through it in frustration, "I think it's back to the old Divination standby."**

**"****What - make it up?" **

"That's a good way to go." Sirius said.

"And a lot of fun." Prongs said.

**"****Yeah," said Ron, sweeping the jumble of scrawled notes off the table, dipping his pen into some ink, and starting to write.**

**"****Next Monday," he said as he scribbled, "I am likely to develop a cough, owing to the unlucky conjunction of Mars and Jupiter." He looked up at Cris. "You know her - just put in loads of misery, she'll lap it up."**

"Yeah, she will." Bill said with a laugh.

**"Right," said Cris, crumpling up her first attempt and lobbing it over the heads of a group of chattering first years into the fire. "Okay… on Monday, I will be in danger of- er - burns."**

"True, you have Care of Magical Creatures on Monday." Remus said.

"With those damn Skrewts." Robin said.

**"****Yeah, you will be," said Ron darkly, "we're seeing the skrewts again on Monday. Okay, Tuesday, I'll… erm…"**

**"****Lose a treasured possession," said Cris, who was flicking through Unfogging the Future for ideas.**

**"****Good one," said Ron, copying it down. "Because of… erm… Mercury. Why don't you get stabbed in the back by someone you thought was a friend?"**

Ron and Cris winced, that one did come true.

**"****Yeah… cool…" said Cris, scribbling it down, "because… Venus is in the twelfth house."**

**"****And on Wednesday, I think I'll come off worst in a fight."**

**"****Aaah, I was going to have a fight. Okay, I'll lose a bet."**

**"****Yeah, you'll be betting I'll win my fight…" **

"That works," Prongs said.

**They continued to make up predictions (which grew steadily more tragic) for another hour, while the common room around them slowly emptied as people went up to bed. Crookshanks wandered over to them, leapt lightly into an empty chair, and stared inscrutably at Cris, rather as Hermione might look if she knew they weren't doing their homework properly.**

**Staring around the room, trying to think of a kind of misfortune she hadn't yet used, Cris saw Fred and George sitting together against the opposite wall, heads together, quills out, poring over a single piece of parchment. It was most unusual to see Fred and George hidden away in a corner and working silently; they usually liked to be in the thick of things and the noisy center of attention. There was something secretive about the way they were working on the piece of parchment, and Cris was reminded of how they had sat together writing something back at the Burrow. She had thought then that it was another order form for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but it didn't look like that this time; if it had been, they would surely have let Lee Jordan in on the joke. She wondered whether it had anything to do with entering the Triwizard Tournament.**

**As Cris watched, George shook his head at Fred, scratched out something with his quill, and said, in a very quiet voice that nevertheless carried across the almost deserted room, "No - that sounds like we're accusing him. Got to be careful…"**

"What are you two doing now?" Bill asked.

"Nothing," Fred and George said.

"Now why is it that I don't believe you?" Charlie asked.

"Because you know them." Cris said with a smile.

**Then George looked over and saw Cris watching him. Cris grinned and quickly returned to her predictions - she didn't want George to think she was eavesdropping.**

"Now we do." George whispered in her ear making her blush.

**Shortly after that, the twins rolled up their parchment, said good night, and went off to bed. Fred and George had been gone ten minutes or so when the portrait hole opened and Hermione climbed into the common room carrying a sheaf of parchment in one hand and a box whose contents rattled as she walked in the other. Crookshanks arched his back, purring.**

**"****Hello," she said, "I've just finished!"**

**"****So have I!" said Ron triumphantly, throwing down his quill.**

**Hermione sat down, laid the things she was carrying in an empty armchair, and pulled Ron's predictions toward her.**

"Just trying to help." Hermione said.

"You are a good friend to have." Lily said with a smile.

**"****Not going to have a very good month, are you?" she said sardonically as Crookshanks curled up in her lap.**

**"****Ah well, at least I'm forewarned," Ron yawned.**

**"****You seem to be drowning twice," said Hermione.**

"Yeah, that's a problem." Charlie said.

"I fixed it." Ron said.

**"****Oh am I?" said Ron, peering down at his predictions. "I'd better change one of them to getting trampled by a rampaging hippogriff."**

"Nah, that might have happened the year before." Gwen said with a smile.

"Yep," Ron said with a chuckle.

**"****Don't you think it's a bit obvious you've made these up?" said Hermione.**

**"****How dare you!" said Ron, in mock outrage. "We've been working like house-elves here!" **

Hermione half-heartedly glared at her boyfriend who just shrugged innocently.

**Hermione raised her eyebrows.**

**"****It's just an expression," said Ron hastily.**

"An odd expression then." Gwen said.

"There are a lot that are odd, like break a leg when you are about to perform on stage." Cris said.

"That's odd." Sirius said.

"Exactly." Gwen said.

**Cris laid down her quill too, having just finished predicting her own death by decapitation.**

**"****What's in the box?" she asked, pointing at it.**

**"****Funny you should ask," said Hermione, with a nasty look at Ron. She took off the lid and showed them the contents. Inside were about fifty badges, all of different colors, but all bearing the same letters: S. P. E.W. **

"Spew?" Padfoot sputtered out.

"Sounds like someone is about to throw up." Prongs said. Hermione glared at the two and Sirius continued reading.

**"****Spew?" said Cris, picking up a badge and looking at it. "What's this about?"**

**"****Not spew," said Hermione impatiently. "It's S-P-E-W. Stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."**

"You started your own society?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Hermione said, "it didn't work very well."

"Well you did do some good, Aunt Hermione." Victoire said.

"Oh yeah," Hermione said with a grin.

**"****Never heard of it," said Ron.**

**"Well, of course you haven't," said Hermione briskly, "I've only just started it."**

**"Yeah?" said Ron in mild surprise. "How many members have you got?"**

**"****Well - if you two join - three," said Hermione.**

"So you're just assuming?" Padfoot asked.

"Yeah, kind of." Hermione said.

"She really didn't give us much choice." Ron said.

"No kidding," Tonks said with a smile.

**"****And you think we want to walk around wearing badges saying 'spew,' do you?" said Ron.**

**"****S-P-E-W!" said Hermione hotly. "I was going to put Stop the Outrageous Abuse of Our Fellow Magical Creatures and Campaign for a Change in Their Legal Status - but it wouldn't fit. So that's the heading of our manifesto."**

**She brandished the sheaf of parchment at them.**

**"****I've been researching it thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now."**

"It's because they like working." Charlie said.

"And they feed off our magic." Sirius said.

"I know that know." Hermione said blushing brightly.

**"****Hermione - open your ears," said Ron loudly. "They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!"**

**"****Our short-term aims," said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn't heard a word, **

"That happens a lot." Cris said.

"I know the feeling." Robin said looking over at Lily and Prongs.

**"****are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they're shockingly underrepresented."**

**"****And how do we do all this?" Cris asked.**

**"****We start by recruiting members," said Hermione happily. "I thought two Sickles to join - that buys a badge - and the proceeds can fund our leaflet campaign. You're treasurer, Ron - I've got you a collecting tin upstairs - and Cris, you're secretary, so you might want to write down everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting."**

"You know, you really should have mentioned that at the beginning." Cris said. Hermione blushed while Ron and Cris smiled at her.

**There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the pair of them, and Cris sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione and amusement at the look on Ron's face. The silence was broken, not by Ron, who in any case looked as though he was temporarily dumbstruck, but by a soft tap, tap on the window. Cris looked across the now empty common room and saw, illuminated by the moonlight, a snowy owl perched on the windowsill.**

**"****Hedwig!" she shouted, and she launched herself out of her chair and across the room to pull open the window.**

"Finally, took you long enough." Bill said.

"What do you expect; it took a while to reach me so it would have taken awhile to get back." Sirius said with a shrug and continued reading.

**Hedwig flew inside, soared across the room, and landed on the table on top of Cris' predictions.**

**"****About time!" said Cris, hurrying after her.**

**"****She's got an answer!" said Ron excitedly, pointing at the grubby piece of parchment tied to Hedwig's leg.**

**Cris hastily untied it and sat down to read, whereupon Hedwig fluttered onto her knee, hooting softly.**

**"****What does it say?" Hermione asked breathlessly.**

**The letter was very short, and looked as though it had been scrawled in a great hurry. Cris read it aloud:**

_**Cris -**_

_**I'm flying north immediately. This news about your scar is the latest in a series of strange rumors that have reached me here. If it hurts again, go straight to Dumbledore - they're saying he's got Mad-Eye out of retirement, which means he's reading the signs, even if no one else is. I'll be in touch soon. My best to Ron and Hermione. Keep your eyes open, Cris.**_

_**Sirius **_

"You're lucky that Hedwig wasn't intercepted." Moony said.

"I know, I just wanted to let her know about it." Sirius said.

**Cris looked up at Ron and Hermione, who stared back at her.**

**"****He's flying north?" Hermione whispered. "He's coming back?"**

**"Dumbledore's reading what signs?" said Ron, looking perplexed. "Cris - what's up?"**

**For Cris had just hit herself in the forehead with her fist, jolting Hedwig out of her lap.**

**"****I shouldn't've told him!" Cris said furiously.**

**"****What are you on about?" said Ron in surprise.**

**"****It's made him think he's got to come back!" said Cris, now slamming her fist on the table so that Hedwig landed on the back of Ron's chair, hooting indignantly. "Coming back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me! And I haven't got anything for you," Cris snapped at Hedwig, who was clicking her beak expectantly, "you'll have to go up to the Owlery if you want food." **

"You didn't have to take it out on Hedwig you know." Ginny said.

"I was upset." Cris said, "I thought that Sirius would have been caught if he came back."

"I understand but I can take care of myself pup." Sirius said.

"I know, but knowing and feeling are completely different." Cris said.

"That's true," Remus said calmly. Cris silently pleaded with Sirius to continue reading and he did.

**Hedwig gave her an extremely offended look and took off for the open window, cuffing her around the head with her outstretched wing as she went.**

**"Cris," Hermione began, in a pacifying sort of voice.**

**"I'm going to bed," said Cris shortly. "See you in the morning."**

**Upstairs in the dormitory she pulled on her pajamas when she got into her four-poster, but she didn't feel remotely tired.**

**If Sirius came back and got caught, it would be her, Cris', fault. Why hadn't she kept her mouth shut? A few seconds' pain and she'd had to blab… If she'd just had the sense to keep it to herself.**

"It's a good thing you told me pup." Sirius said.

"I just felt bad that you could have been caught because of me." Cris said.

"I know pup." Sirius said with a smile and continued reading.

**She heard Ron come up into the dormitory a short while later, but did not speak to her. For a long time, Cris lay staring up at the dark canopy of her bed. The dormitory was completely silent, and, had she been less preoccupied, Cris would have realized that the absence of Neville's usual snores meant that she was not the only one lying awake.**

Neville looked down, he was thinking about his parents.

"That's the chapter." Sirius said closing the book.

"I think it's time we all call it a night and start up again in the morning." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I agree, let's start back up in the morning." Dumbledore said. The group separated but Cris told the guys to meet her in the room again, she wanted to be with them again tonight.


	17. Break 2

Cris lay awake pretending to be asleep listening to the girls around her once again. When she was satisfied that the girls around her were asleep she snuck out and into the extra bedroom once again. Fred and George were sitting on the bed talking about pranks when she walked in. They looked up and smiled at her, she raced to them onto the bed. She pulled out her wand and whispered an incantation.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked.

"I'm okay as I am going to be." Cris said as she kissed him deeply and George started to kiss her neck.

"We just wanted to make sure that you were okay." George said into her neck as he nibbled her ear lobe.

"You guys are the best thing that has ever happened to me." Cris said with a smile.

"Happy to be of help." Fred said with a cheeky smile. Cris smiled back and started to take off his shirt.

*Lemon ahead- Be warned not for the faint of heart*

"You little sneak." Fred said with a smile and he and George took off her shirt. George then started to kiss the tattoo on Cris' shoulder blade. Cris spun and captured George's lips with her own. Fred was doing the same thing as George had done. Cris took off George's shirt so now they were all topless. They laid her down on the bed and George started kissing her deeply and passionately whereas Fred was suckling her breast. Soon George was moving down Cris' body and enveloped her other breast and started suckling and Fred moved down causing Cris to groan. Soon Fred was right above her waist band of her pajama bottoms and grinned as he pulled them down.

Soon Cris was lying naked as George went back to kissing her mouth and Fred was licking her entrance. Cris was groaning in ecstasy and George's and Fred's pants were growing uncomfortably tight. Finally Cris helped them relieve some of the tension and they were all naked and admiring each other.

Finally Cris straddled George and started kissing him as she reached down where she felt the heat of his erection and wrapped her hand around it and started pumping him up and down. George groaned and she heard Fred groaning as well. Cris looked over at him and nodded. Fred moved to where he was behind her and gently entered her as she lowered onto George.

"Did you cast the spell?" George asked panting from refraining not to move.

"I casted it on you before we started." Cris said grinning.

"That's why we love you." Fred said from behind as he wriggled a bit. Cris gasped and groaned at the feeling of both of them inside of her.

"Move," Cris panted. They obliged and started moving, taking turns pumping in and out of her. Groaning and panting and murmuring nonsense into each other's ears they came as one. Cris collapsed on top of George and Fred rolled off to the side so to prevent squishing his brother and Cris.

*End Scene- Hope you enjoyed *

"That was, wow." Cris said her heart pounding against her ribs.

"I know," Fred with a lazy grin.

"I bet it get's better in the future." George said with the same grin.

"Considering we have five kids with a sixth on the way, I'd say it does." Cris said.

"Speaking of them, they seem pretty amazing." Fred said.

"Yeah, they do." Cris said.

"They're beautiful." George said.

"What do the youngest two look like?" Cris asked.

"Connor looks just like you same wild raven hair and emerald green eyes." Fred said.

"Ryker looks like us, but he has the untidy hair of the Potter's." George said.

"They sound beautiful," Cris said.

"They are, we make some pretty beautiful kids." Fred said.

"That we do." Cris said with a smile. "We should probably head back and go to bed."

"Yeah, but I don't want to." George said.

"Me neither." Fred said.

"Fine we can stay here but then you will have to explain it to Sirius, Remus, Robin and my parents." Cris said.

"Bed it is then." George said getting up and putting his pants on. They got dressed and headed back to their separate dorms to sleep the rest of the night. Cris slept better than she had in a while. She crawled under the covers of her bed and went to sleep almost forgetting what the next day would bring.


	18. Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

Cris woke up to being shaken by Ginny this time. Ginny grinned and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Morning sleepy head," Ginny said with a smile.

"Morning," Cris said stretching like a cat.

"Shower's free," Ginny said. Cris nodded appreciatively and got up to take a shower. When she got out she put on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved red shirt. She joined the others in the reading room and helped herself to some porridge and a glass of pumpkin juice. Then another letter popped up.

_Hey Guys,_

_I been talking with Jas and Xander and they agree that we should bring in two more people and that's it. These two people are Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour. We thought about this so that Viktor could meet Gwen and the rest of the family can get to know Fleur better. Explain to them what's going on and the same rules still apply. Happy reading!_

_Yours, _

_Dominique Isabelle Weasley_

Another gold light appeared and two figures were there trying to get there bearings. The guy has dark hair and dark eyes and looked awkward on his feet. The girl looked just like Victoire but without the freckles and darker eyes.

"Vhere are ve?" the boy asked.

"I zink I know what es going on." The girl said.** (Sorry about the accents, I'll try as best as I can.)**

"Welcome Mr. Krum and Miss Delacour. We are here to read the events from Miss Potter's life. I suggest we all introduce ourselves. There are people from the past present and future here so don't be alarmed. You know me already, but I'm Professor Dumbledore,"

"Professor McGonagall,"

"Professor Snape,"

"Alastor Mad-Eye Moody,"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt,"

"Nymphadora Tonks, but call me Tonks,"

"Teddy Lupin, I'm from the future,"

"Keiran Black, I'm also from the future,"

"Sirius Black, I'm innocent,"

"Scarlett Black, I'm from the future as well."

"Robin Lupin,"

"Remus Lupin,"

"Lily Jade Potter-Weasley, I'm from the future,"

"Fred Weasley,"

"Cris Potter,"

"George Weasley,"

"James Sirius Potter-Weasley, I'm from the future."

"Remus Albus Potter-Weasley, I'm also from the future but call me Al."

"Hermione Granger,"

"Ron Weasley,"

"Ginny Weasley,"

"Neville Longbottom,"

"Charlie Weasley,"

"Fleur Delacour,"

"Bill Weasley,"

"Victoire Weasley, I'm from the future,"

"Molly Weasley,"

"Arthur Weasley,"

"Luna Lovegood,"

"Draco Malfoy,"

"Gwen Johnson,"

"Viktor Krum,"

"James Potter, I'm from the past."

"Lily Evans, I'm from the past."

"Remus Lupin, I'm also from the past."

"Sirius Black, also from the past."

"Percy Weasley,"

"Cornelius Fudge,"

"Dolores Umbridge,"

"Now that we all know each other, Mr. Krum and Miss Delacour, the two of you are here because you marry someone in this room. Miss Delacour you marry Bill Weasley and Victoire Weasley is your daughter, Mr. Krum you marry Miss Gwen Johnson. Now Miss Black I believe that it is your turn to read." Dumbledore said. Fleur and Viktor looked dazed and went and sat down, Fleur in between Bill and Charlie and Viktor between Gwen and Prongs. Scarlett picked up the book to read the next chapter.

"**Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," **Scarlett read.

"Ah, now I know vhy ve are here." Viktor said.

"Yes, we come during thes chapter." Fleur said.

**Early next morning, Cris woke with a plan fully formed in her mind, as though her sleeping brain had been working on it all night.**

**She got up, dressed in the pale dawn light, left the dormitory without waking Ron, and went back down to the deserted common room. Here she took a piece of parchment from the table upon which her Divination homework still lay and wrote the following letter:**

_**Dear Sirius,**_

_**I reckon I just imagined my scar hurting, **_

_**I was half asleep when I wrote to you last time. There's no point coming back, everything's fine here. Don't worry about me, my head feels completely normal.**_

_**Cris**_

"Not going to work." Prongs said.

"No kidding, Padfoot is very protective of his friends." Moony said.

"You know it," Padfoot said puffing out his chest which caused everyone to laugh.

**She then climbed out of the portrait hole, up through the silent castle (held up only briefly by Peeves, who tried to overturn a large vase on her halfway along the fourth-floor corridor), finally arriving at the Owlery, which was situated at the top of West Tower.**

**The Owlery was a circular stone room, rather cold and drafty, because none of the windows had glass in them. The floor was entirely covered in straw, owl droppings, and the regurgitated skeletons of mice and voles. Hundreds upon hundreds of owls of every breed imaginable were nestled here on perches that rose right up to the top of the tower, nearly all of them asleep, though here and there a round amber eye glared at Cris. She spotted Hedwig nestled between a barn owl and a tawny, and hurried over to her, sliding a little on the dropping-strewn floor.**

"Does anyone clean up in there?" Gwen asked.

"Vhy do you ask?" Viktor asked looking at his future wife.

"I'm a Muggle, I'm also one of Cris' friends." Gwen said.

"Really, you're very beautiful," Viktor said whispering the last part. Gwen blushed slightly and looked down as Scarlett continued to read.

**It took her a while to persuade her to wake up and then to look at her, as she kept shuffling around on her perch, showing her her tail. She was evidently still furious about her lack of gratitude the previous night. In the end, it was Cris suggesting she might be too tired, and that perhaps she would ask Ron to borrow Pigwidgeon, that made her stick out her leg and allow her to tie the letter to it. **

"You Owl is very prideful," Viktor said.

"I know, but I wouldn't have it any other way." Cris said with a smile.

**"****Just find him, all right?" Cris said, stroking her back as she carried her on her arm to one of the holes in the wall. "Before the Dementors do." **

"Yeah, that would be a problem." Robin said worriedly.

"I didn't get caught." Sirius said.

**She nipped her finger, perhaps rather harder than she would ordinarily have done, but hooted softly in a reassuring sort of way all the same. Then she spread her wings and took off into the sunrise. Cris watched her fly out of sight with the familiar feeling of unease back in her stomach. She had been so sure that Sirius's reply would alleviate her worries rather than increasing them.**** Cris started to walk back out of the Owlery when Cedric walked in. **

"**Hey Cris, I didn't know you were up." Cedric said. **

"**Yeah, just sending a letter to a friend, what are you doing?" Cris asked. **

"**I remembered that it is my mum's birthday so I am sending her a letter wishing her happy birthday." Cedric said. **

"**That's sweet of you, well I should be leaving," she said stepping towards the door.**

"**Cris wait," Cedric called. Cris stopped and turned back around to face him. Her cheeks heating up slightly.**

"**Yes Cedric?" she asked. Cedric took a deep breath looked her in the eyes.**

"**I was wondering, since a Hogsmeade weekend is coming up if you would like to go with me?" he asked. Cris looked at him her heart pounding in her chest. **

"**Sure, but nothing too girly alright." Cris said with a blush.**

"**I wouldn't dream of it." Cedric said with a blush. Cris smiled back and walked out of the Owlery, her fears vanished from her, that is until breakfast. **

"What made it come back?" Sirius asked happy that Cedric made her forget about the possibility of him being caught.

"Mia asked me." Cris said.

**Cris was sitting at the Gryffindor table when Ron and Hermione came down for breakfast. They sat opposite of her, staring at her.**

"That was really creepy by the way." Cris said.

"Sorry," Ron and Hermione said.

"Remind you of anyone?" Robin asked.

"No," Sirius and Remus said.

"The time where James got his first date and the two of you stared at him." Robin said. The two of them blushed and Scarlett kept reading.

"**What are you two staring at me for?" Cris asked looking at her two best friends. **

"**It's just that, last night you were worried and scared and now you all bubbly, what happened?" Hermione asked. Cris looked up and over at the Hufflepuff table Cedric was looking at her and he smiled and she smiled back. Hermione and Ron looked over as well and Hermione looked ready to squeal.**

"**No way, Cedric asked you out?" Hermione asked her eyes glowing and she was practically bouncing in her seat. **

"**No way he did, did he?" Ron asked. **

"**He did, he asked me to go to Hogsmeade on the first weekend we go." Cris said with a smile. **

"**So what did you tell Sirius?" Ron asked in a whisper. Cris' mood dropped instantly. She then told them what she wrote.**

"Now why did you go and ruin her mood for?" Lily asked.

"I wasn't thinking; I wanted to know what she wrote too." Ron said sheepishly.

**"That was a lie, Cris," said Hermione sharply. "You didn't imagine your scar hurting and you know it."**

**"****So what?" said Cris. "He's not going back to Azkaban because of me."**

"You are so much like your father." Lily said.

"I think that was a mixture of both at the time." Remus said with a smile.

**"****Drop it," said Ron sharply to Hermione as she opened her mouth to argue some more, and for once, Hermione heeded him, and fell silent.**

**Cris did her best not to worry about Sirius over the next couple of weeks. True, she could not stop herself from looking anxiously around every morning when the post owls arrived, nor, late at night before she went to sleep, prevent herself from seeing horrible visions of Sirius, cornered by Dementors down some dark London street, but between times she tried to keep her mind off her godfather. She wished she still had Quidditch to distract her; nothing worked so well on a troubled mind as a good, hard training session. On the other hand, their lessons were becoming more difficult and demanding than ever before, particularly Moody's Defense Against the Dark Arts. But again her mind was driven back to Cedric every time they saw each other and smiled, she couldn't wait until they went to Hogsmeade.**

"Neither can I," Gwen said with a giggle. Fred and George looked jealous so Cris kissed them to make them feel a bit better.

**To their surprise, Professor Moody had announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects.**

"But that's illegal!" Mrs. Weasley, Lily and Percy cried.

"It actually helped me at the end of the year, when Cedric died." Cris said.

"You didn't say anything about being put under it." Sirius said.

"So vas I." Viktor said.

**"But - but you said it's illegal, Professor," said Hermione uncertainly as Moody cleared away the desks with a sweep of his wand, leaving a large clear space in the middle of the room. "You said - to use it against another human was -"**

**"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like," said Moody, his magical eye swiveling onto Hermione and fixing her with an eerie, unblinking stare. "If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go." **

"You're not going to go, you're like Moony you're going to stay." Prongs said.

**He pointed one gnarled finger toward the door. Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. Cris and Ron grinned at each other. They knew Hermione would rather eat bubotuber pus than miss such an important lesson.**

**Moody began to beckon students forward in turn and put the Imperius Curse upon them. Cris watched as, one by one, her classmates did the most extraordinary things under its influence. Dean Thomas hopped three times around the room, singing the national anthem. Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel. **

**Neville performed a series of quite astonishing gymnastics he would certainly not have been capable of in his normal state. Not one of them seemed to be able to fight off the curse, and each of them recovered only when Moody had removed it. **

"You think any of them might be able to fight it off?" Prongs asked.

"I betting your daughter will be able to." Padfoot said.

"I think she will as well." Moony said.

**"Potter," Moody growled, "you next."**

**Cris moved forward into the middle of the classroom, into the space that Moody had cleared of desks. Moody raised his wand, pointed it at Cris, and said, "Imperio!"**

**It was the most wonderful feeling. Cris felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in her head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. She stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching her.**

**And then she heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of her empty brain: Jump onto the desk… jump onto the desk…**

**Cris bent her knees obediently, preparing to spring.**

**Jump onto the desk…**

**Why, though? Another voice had awoken in the back of her brain. Stupid thing to do, really, said the voice. **

"You're resisting!" Tonks cried.

"Very impressive for a fourteen year old." Percy said. Cris blushed and hide in her hair again.

**Jump onto the desk…**

**No, I don't think I will, thanks, said the other voice, a little more firmly… no, I don't really want to.**

**Jump! NOW!**

**The next thing Cris felt was considerable pain. She had both jumped and tried to prevent herself from jumping - the result was that she'd smashed headlong into the desk knocking it over, and, by the feeling in her legs, fractured both her kneecaps. **

"Ouch, did he heal you up?" Prongs asked.

"At the end of everything." Cris said.

**"Now, that's more like it!" growled Moody's voice, and suddenly, Cris felt the empty, echoing feeling in her head disappear. She remembered exactly what was happening, and the pain in her knees seemed to double.**

**"Look at that, you lot… Potter fought! She fought it, and she damn near beat it! We'll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention - watch her eyes, that's where you see it - very good, Potter, very good indeed! They'll have trouble controlling you!" **

"I find it amusing that a Death Eater helped me fight the Imperius." Cris whispered. The twins nodded, it was kind of ironic really.

**"The way he talks," Cris muttered as she hobbled out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class an hour later (Moody had insisted on putting Cris through her paces four times in a row, until Cris could throw off the curse entirely), "you'd think we were all going to be attacked any second." **

"Sadly, that's how he is after everything." Sirius said.

**"Yeah, I know," said Ron, who was skipping on every alternate step. **

"Ah, the after effects of that particular curse." Sirius said.

"You seem rather susceptible to those." Remus said. Ron blushed and looked down.

**He had had much more difficulty with the curse than Cris, though Moody assured him the effects would wear off by lunchtime. "Talk about paranoid…" Ron glanced nervously over his shoulder to check that Moody was definitely out of earshot and went on. "No wonder they were glad to get shot of him at the Ministry. Did you hear him telling Seamus what he did to that witch who shouted 'Boo' behind him on April Fools' Day? And when are we supposed to read up on resisting the Imperius Curse with everything else we've got to do?"**

**All the fourth years had noticed a definite increase in the amount of work they were required to do this term. Professor McGonagall explained why, when the class gave a particularly loud groan at the amount of Transfiguration homework she had assigned.**

**"You are now entering a most important phase of your magical education!" she told them, her eyes glinting dangerously behind her square spectacles. "Your Ordinary Wizarding Levels are drawing closer —" **

"Yeah, they like to start early even though it is next year." Charlie said.

"Don't we know it," the trio, Neville and Draco said.

"And we haven't learned a thing in DADA!" Draco exclaimed. The Gryffindors and the Ravenclaw smirked but didn't say anything.

**"We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas indignantly.**

**"Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you can get! Miss Granger and Miss Potter remain the only students in this class who have managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. **

"Good, I'm so proud." Prongs exclaimed.

"She did get both your talents and she excels in DADA as well." McGonagall said with a smile.

"When she isn't talking such nonsense in my class." Umbridge said.

"And what nonsense would that be?" Lily asked.

"She lies!" Umbridge hissed. Lily and Prongs stood up and was about to give the toad a piece of their minds when Cris spoke up.

"Mum, Dad don't, she'll eat her words at the end of the book." Cris said glaring at the teacher.

**I might remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!"**

"Wow, that's kind of funny," Prongs said.

"We should have thought about that as a prank!" Fred exclaimed.

"Agreed dear twin," George said nodding his head. McGonagall groaned and shook her head.

**Hermione and Cris, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not to look too pleased with themselves.**

**Cris and Ron were deeply amused when Professor Trelawney told them that they had received top marks for their homework in their next Divination class. She read out large portions of their predictions, commending them for their unflinching acceptance of the horrors in store for them - but they were less amused when she asked them to do the same thing for the month after next; both of them were running out of ideas for catastrophes.**

"And that's why you need to fail sometimes." Fred whispered.

"I shouldn't have taken Percy's advice." Cris said.

"That too," George said.

**Meanwhile Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, had them writing weekly essays on the goblin rebellions of the eighteenth century. Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes. They took this one seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them before Christmas to see if their antidote worked. **

"It better not have been Cris." Prongs snarled. Snape sneered back but didn't say anything.

**Professor Flitwick had asked them to read three extra books in preparation for their lesson on Summoning Charms.**

"That spell comes in handy." Cris said thinking of the first task.

"It sure does," Charlie said laughing a bit.

"Am I the only one who feels left out of the loop?" Padfoot asked.

"No, I'm confused as well." Gwen said.

"Me too," Lily, Prongs and Moony said.

"You confused Moony! Good job pup!" Sirius said with a smile.

**Even Hagrid was adding to their workload. The Blast-Ended Skrewts were growing at a remarkable pace given that nobody had yet discovered what they ate. Hagrid was delighted, and as part of their "project," suggested that they come down to his hut on alternate evenings to observe the skrewts and make notes on their extraordinary behavior.**

"I think I would want to avoid them." Gwen said.

"Well we couldn't really do that considering it was a part of our grade." Draco said.

"You're just saying that because you had bad luck in that class." Ron said.

"It does seem like that doesn't." Draco said.

"Yeah, welcome to the club!" Cris exclaimed.

**"I will not," said Draco Malfoy flatly when Hagrid had proposed this with the air of Father Christmas pulling an extra-large toy out of his sack. "I see enough of these foul things during lessons, thanks."**

"You should have thought that through more, he is a teacher." Hermione said.

"I know," Draco mumbled.

**Hagrid's smile faded off his face.**

**"Yeh'll do wha' yer told," he growled, "or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book… I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy."**

"I don't think he could have done it fully though." Hermione said.

"It might be like what he did to my cousin, he gains a certain feature from the creature." Cris said.

"Possibly," Hermione said.

**The Gryffindors roared with laughter. Malfoy flushed with anger, but apparently the memory of Moody's punishment was still sufficiently painful to stop him from retorting. Cris, Ron, and Hermione returned to the castle at the end of the lesson in high spirits; seeing Hagrid put down Malfoy was particularly satisfying, especially because Malfoy had done his very best to get Hagrid sacked the previous year. **

"'Agrid seems like a very nice person, I don't see why you would try to get him sacked to begin with." Fleur said.

"That's just how it was mum, but everything is okay now." Victoire said. Fleur looked taken back by being called mom but smiled back at her daughter.

**When they arrived in the entrance hall, they found themselves unable to proceed owing to the large crowd of students congregated there, all milling around a large sign that had been erected at the foot of the marble staircase. Ron, the tallest of the three, stood on tiptoe to see over the heads in front of them and read the sign aloud to the other two:**

**TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT**

**THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY –**

"Good, no poisoning for anyone." Lily said glaring at her formal friend.

**"Brilliant!" said Cris. "It's Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won't have time to poison us all!"**

"Like mother like daughter." Sirius said with a laugh. Lily and Cris blushed as the group chuckled a bit.

**STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.**

**"Only a week away!" said Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff, emerging from the crowd, his eyes gleaming. "I wonder if Cedric knows? Think I'll go and tell him…"**

**"Cedric?" said Ron blankly as Ernie hurried off. **

"Yes Ron Cedric," Charlie said with a laugh.

"**Yes Ron, Cedric, he is seventeen." Cris said rolling her eyes at her friend.**

"Good, set him straight." Lily said.

"I try my best." Cris said with a smile.

**"That idiot, Hogwarts champion?" said Ron as they pushed their way through the chattering crowd toward the staircase.**

"Mia, slap him for me." Cris said. Hermione obliged and slapped Ron upside the head.

**"He's not an idiot. You just don't like him because he beat Gryffindor at Quidditch," said Hermione. "I've heard he's a really good student - and he's a prefect."**

"**And he's really sweet and everything, you should have seen him in the Owlery." Cris said.**

**"You only like him because he's handsome," said Ron scathingly.**

**"Excuse me, I don't like people just because they're handsome!" said Hermione indignantly. **

"**Besides, have you forgotten, I'm the one with the date with him?" Cris asked raising an eyebrow. **

"Yeah, I kind of did." Ron said.

"Even though he was giving me smiles and notes and everything?" Cris asked.

"I noticed," Hermione said.

"I didn't," Ron said.

"Wow, you're oblivious." James said.

**Ron gave a loud false cough, which sounded oddly like "Lockhart!"**

"Hey, I didn't know that he was a fraud, I was just excited about meeting a published Author." Hermione said. Ron blushed even brighter and it matched his hair color.

**The appearance of the sign in the entrance hall had a marked effect upon the inhabitants of the castle. During the following week, there seemed to be only one topic of conversation, no matter where Cris went: the Triwizard Tournament.**

**Rumors were flying from student to student like highly contagious germs: who was going to try for Hogwarts champion, what the tournament would involve, how the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang differed from themselves. Cris noticed too that the castle seemed to be undergoing an extra-thorough cleaning. Several grimy portraits had been scrubbed, much to the displeasure of their subjects, who sat huddled in their frames muttering darkly and wincing as they felt their raw pink faces. The suits of armor were suddenly gleaming and moving without squeaking, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, was behaving so ferociously to any students who forgot to wipe their shoes that he terrified a pair of first-year girls into hysterics. **

"Alright, now that is over the top." Lily said.

"That's Filch for you though." Padfoot said.

"No kidding," Lily said.

**Other members of the staff seemed oddly tense too.**

**"Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can't even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!" Professor McGonagall barked **

Neville blushed and Ginny patted his arm.

**at the end of one particularly difficult lesson, during which Neville had accidentally transplanted his own ears onto a cactus.**

"That sounds painful." Gwen said.

"It was but Madame Pomfrey fixed me up." Neville said.

"She is really good," Prongs said.

**When they went down to breakfast on the morning of the thirtieth of October, they found that the Great Hall had been decorated overnight. Enormous silk banners hung from the walls, each of them representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers' table, the largest banner of all bore the Hogwarts coat of arms: lion, eagle, badger, and snake united around a large letter H.**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione sat down beside Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Once again, and most unusually, they were sitting apart from everyone else and conversing in low voices. Ron led the way over to them.**

**"It's a bummer, all right," George was saying gloomily to Fred. "But if he won't talk to us in person, we'll have to send him the letter after all. Or we'll stuff it into his hand. He can't avoid us forever." **

"Who's avoiding you?" Bill asked confused.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Fred said with a smirk.

"I think I know," Sirius said.

"It could possibly be the person you are thinking about." George said.

**"Who's avoiding you?" said Ron, sitting down next to them.**

**"Wish you would," said Fred, looking irritated at the interruption.**

**"What's a bummer?" Ron asked George.**

**"Having a nosy git like you for a brother," said George.**

"George!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"Sorry, we were a little irritated." George said.

"I could tell." Cris said.

"What I want to know is from who? I don't think I've ever seen the twins get irritated." Charlie said.

**"You two got any ideas on the Triwizard Tournament yet?" Cris asked. "Thought any more about trying to enter?"**

**"I asked McGonagall how the champions are chosen but she wasn't telling," said George bitterly. "She just told me to shut up and get on with transfiguring my raccoon."**

**"Wonder what the tasks are going to be?" said Ron thoughtfully. "You know, I bet we could do them, Cris. We've done dangerous stuff before…"**

"I wish you wouldn't have to." Lily said.

"It makes mum who she is though." Lily J said.

"That's true," Remus said with a smile.

**"Not in front of a panel of judges, you haven't," said Fred. "McGonagall says the champions get awarded points according to how well they've done the tasks."**

**"Who are the judges?" Ron asked.**

**"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone looked around at her, rather surprised, except Cris who nodded her head.**

"I don't know why we are surprised anymore." Ron said.

**"because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792, when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage."**

**She noticed them all looking at her and said, with her usual air of impatience that nobody else had read all the books she had, **

**"It's all in Hogwarts, A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."**

"Oh no, not the tangent again." Ginny said with a smile.

"Great," Charlie mumbled.

**"What are you on about?" said Ron, though Cris thought she knew what was coming.**

**"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts, A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"**

"But the school House-Elves are the best treated elves in the country." Dumbledore said. Hermione blushed but didn't say anything.

**Cris shook her head and applied herself to her scrambled eggs. She and Ron's lack of enthusiasm had done nothing whatsoever to curb Hermione's determination to pursue justice for house-elves.**

**True, both of them had paid two Sickles for a S.P.E.W. badge, but they had only done it to keep her quiet. **

"I hate your thoughts mate." Ron said groaning as Hermione slapped him again.

"Sorry, I didn't know they would be read one day." Cris said glad she was out of range of Hermione's slaps.

**Their Sickles had been wasted, however; if anything, they seemed to have made Hermione more vociferous. She had been badgering Cris and Ron ever since, first to wear the badges, then to persuade others to do the same, and she had also taken to rattling around the Gryffindor common room every evening, cornering people and shaking the collecting tin under their noses.**

**"You do realize that your sheets are changed, your fires lit, your classrooms cleaned, and your food cooked by a group of magical creatures who are unpaid and enslaved?" she kept saying fiercely.**

"I would pay them if they let me, but they refuse every time." Dumbledore said. Hermione blushed once again, she didn't know that but it made sense now.

**Some people, like Neville, had paid up just to stop Hermione from glowering at them. **

**A few seemed mildly interested in what she had to say, but were reluctant to take a more active role in campaigning. Many regarded the whole thing as a joke. Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon (both twins had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge). George, however, leaned in toward Hermione.**

**"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"**

**"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly, "I hardly think students are supposed to -" **

"Well no, but they do anyway." Bill said.

"Especially if your best friend has a black hole for a stomach." Moony said looking over at Padfoot.

"I don't have a black hole for a stomach Moony, how could you say that?" Padfoot asked.

"Because you eat enough for a small militia." Moony said simply.

"Remind you of anyone Bolt?" Hermione asked.

"Of course Mia, if you mean our dear Red then you would be correct." Cris said with a smirk.

"That is who I was thinking of Bolt," Hermione said smiling at her boyfriend.

**"Well, we have," said George, indicating Fred, "loads of times, to nick food. **

"We've done that," Padfoot said with a smile.

"There is enough of it." McGonagall said.

**And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world -"**

**"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly,**

"You would think but that is just what they do." Robin said. Hermione blushed as Ron smiled but kissed her cheek.

**but her next few words were drowned out by the sudden whooshing noise from overhead, which announced the arrival of the post owls. Cris looked up at once, and saw Hedwig soaring toward her. Hermione stopped talking abruptly; she and Ron watched Hedwig anxiously as she fluttered down onto Cris' shoulder, folded her wings, and held out her leg wearily.**

"She needs to rest; she's been taking to many letters." Lily said.

**Cris pulled off Sirius's reply and offered Hedwig her bacon rinds, which she ate gratefully. Then, checking that Fred and George were safely immersed in further discussions about the Triwizard Tournament, Cris read out Sirius's letter in a whisper to Ron and Hermione.**

**Nice try, Prongslet.**

**I'm back in the country and well hidden. I want you to keep me posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts. Don't use Hedwig, keep changing owls, and don't worry about me, just watch out for yourself. Don't forget what I said about your scar.**

**Sirius **

"See, I knew it wouldn't work." Moony said.

"And I bet the Prongslet comment confused her." Prongs said.

"**Why did he call you Prongslet, and why do you have to keep changing owls?" Ron asked in a low voice.**

"They're both pretty obvious if you think about it." Bill said.

**"Hedwig'll attract too much attention," said Hermione at once. "She stands out. A snowy owl that keeps returning to wherever he's hiding… I mean, they're not native birds, are they? As for Prongslet, I don't know"**

"**Remember, my dad's nickname is Prongs, so I'm his daughter so I'm Prongslet." Cris said. Hermione nodded while Ron still looked confused.**

"That's not hard to do." Charlie said with a chuckle.

**Cris rolled up the letter and slipped it inside her robes, wondering whether she felt more or less worried than before. She supposed that Sirius managing to get back without being caught was something. She couldn't deny either that the idea that Sirius was much nearer was reassuring; at least she wouldn't have to wait so long for a response every time she wrote**

"That's true," Prongs said with a smile.

**"Thanks, Hedwig," she said, stroking her. She hooted sleepily, dipped her beak briefly into her goblet of orange juice, then took off again, clearly desperate for a good long sleep in the Owlery.**

**There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Cris, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.**

**The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.**

**"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."**

**Parvati scowled and removed a large ornamental butterfly from the end of her plait. **

"It's not too bad though." Gwen said.

"No, but it'll distract the students." McGonagall said.

"Oh, I haven't thought about that before." Gwen said.

**"Follow me, please," said Professor McGonagall. "First years in front… no pushing…"**

**They filed down the steps and lined up in front of the castle. It was a cold, clear evening; dusk was falling and a pale, transparent-looking moon was already shining over the Forbidden Forest. Cris, standing between Ron and Hermione in the fourth row from the front, saw Dennis Creevey positively shivering with anticipation among the other first years.**

**"Nearly six," said Ron, checking his watch and then staring down the drive that led to the front gates. "How d'you reckon they're coming? The train?"**

"No, I don't think so." Lily said.

"It would be different though." Prongs said.

"It was something though." Ginny said.

**"I doubt it," said Hermione.**

**"How, then? Broomsticks?" Cris suggested, looking up at the starry sky.**

**"I don't think so… not from that far away…"**

**"A Portkey?" Ron suggested. "Or they could Apparate - maybe you're allowed to do it under seventeen wherever they come from?"**

"Ron, you really need to start paying attention." Charlie said.

**"You can't Apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds, how often do I have to tell you?" said Hermione impatiently.**

**They scanned the darkening grounds excitedly, but nothing was moving; everything was still, silent, and quite as usual. Cris was starting to feel cold. She wished they'd hurry up… Maybe the foreign students were preparing a dramatic entrance… She remembered what Mr. Weasley had said back at the campsite before the Quidditch World Cup: "always the same - we can't resist showing off when we get together…"**

**And then Dumbledore called out from the back row where he stood with the other teachers - "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"**

**"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.**

**"There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.**

**Something large, much larger than a broomstick - or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks - was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.**

**"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years, losing her head completely.**

"That would be cool." Padfoot said.

"It wasn't a dragon." Cris said. Padfoot pouted and Scarlett continued reading.

**"Don't be stupid… it's a flying house!" said Dennis Creevey.**

"No, that is stupid." Gwen said shaking her head missing the look from Viktor and Fleur.

**Dennis's guess was closer… **

"You know, I really should start to expect the unexpected." Gwen said.

"Don't feel bad Gven. It is only natural." Viktor said.

**As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant. **

"Those are large horses." Gwen said.

"Zey 'ad to be." Fleur said.

"I see that," Gwen said simply.

**The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.**

**Cris just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then Cris saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman she had ever seen in her life. The size of the carriage, and of the horses, was immediately explained. A few people gasped.**

**Cris had only ever seen one person as large as this woman in her life, and that was Hagrid; **

"So she's another half-giant." Sirius said.

"Hagrid's a half giant?" Gwen asked.

"Yep," Remus said.

**she doubted whether there was an inch difference in their heights. Yet somehow - maybe simply because she was used to Hagrid - this woman (now at the foot of the steps, and looking around at the waiting, wide-eyed crowd) seemed even more unnaturally large. As she stepped into the light flooding from the entrance hall, she was revealed to have a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes; and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed at her throat and on her thick fingers.**

**Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.**

**Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.**

"She is tall," Gwen said looking at Dumbledore, remembering how tall he was.

**"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."**

**"Dumbly-dor," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"**

"Do the accent Scar." Keiran said.

"No, I don't want to offend Fleur." Scarlett said.

"Zank you, but I do not mind." Fleur said.

"Please Scar," James said giving her the puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, I will attempt it, but no promises." Scarlett said.

**"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.**

**"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.**

**Cris, whose attention had been focused completely upon Madame Maxime, now noticed that about a dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind Madame Maxime. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk, and none of them were wearing cloaks. A few had wrapped scarves and shawls around their heads. **

**From what Cris could see of them (they were standing in Madame Maxime's enormous shadow), they were staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces. **

"Et was 'uge, we 'ave never seen anyzing so big." Fleur said.

"That's understandable," Gwen said.

**"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.**

**"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"**

**"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses -"**

**"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other - er - charges."**

"What happened?" Padfoot asked.

"I don't know, I didn't ask." Cris said.

**"Skrewts," Ron muttered to Cris, grinning.**

**"My steeds require - er - forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. **

"Hagrid is more than capable for it." Charlie said with a grin.

"We know," the trio said.

**"Hagrid can handle anything."**

**"Zey are very strong…"**

**"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.**

**"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"**

**"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.**

**"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.**

**"How big d'you reckon Durmstrang's horses are going to be?" Seamus Finnigan said, leaning around Lavender and Parvati to address Cris and Ron. **

"They won't come the same way." Moony said.

"We know," the group said.

**"Well, if they're any bigger than this lot, even Hagrid won't be able to handle them," said Cris. "That's if he hasn't been attacked by his skrewts. Wonder what's up with them?"**

**"Maybe they've escaped," said Ron hopefully. **

"No, that would be bad." Robin said.

"That's what Hermione and Cris said." Ron said.

**"Oh don't say that," said Hermione with a shudder. "Imagine that lot loose on the grounds…"**

**They stood, shivering slightly now, waiting for the Durmstrang party to arrive. Most people were gazing hopefully up at the sky.**

**For a few minutes, the silence was broken only by Madame Maxime's huge horses snorting and stamping. But then - "Can you hear something?" said Ron suddenly. Cris listened; a loud and oddly eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed.**

**"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, pointing down at it. "Look at the lake!"**

"What about the lake?" Gwen asked.

**From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water - except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks - and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor… What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool… and then Cris saw the rigging…**

**"It's a mast!" she said to Ron and Hermione.**

**Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. It had a strangely skeletal look about it, as though it were a resurrected wreck, and the dim, misty lights shimmering at its portholes looked like ghostly eyes. **

"Now that is cool." Padfoot said.

"I agree." Gwen, Lily, Prongs and Moony said.

**Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor being thrown down in the shallows, and the thud of a plank being lowered onto the bank.**

**People were disembarking; they could see their silhouettes passing the lights in the ship's portholes. All of them, Cris noticed, seemed to be built along the lines of Crabbe and Goyle… but then, as they drew nearer, walking up the lawns into the light streaming from the entrance hall, she saw that their bulk was really due to the fact that they were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.**

"Is Durmstrang very cold?" Gwen asked Viktor.

"Yes, it does get very cold there." Viktor said.

**"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"**

**"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied. Karkaroff had a fruity, unctuous voice; when he stepped into the light pouring from the front doors of the castle they saw that he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee (finishing in a small curl) did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. When he reached Dumbledore, he shook hands with both of his own.**

**"Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling; his teeth were rather yellow, and Cris noticed that his smile did not extend to his eyes, which remained cold and shrewd. "How good it is to be here, how good… Viktor, come along, into the warmth… you don't mind, Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold…"**

**Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. As the boy passed, Cris caught a glimpse of a prominent curved nose and thick black eyebrows. **

**She didn't need the punch on the arm Ron gave her, or the hiss in her ear, to recognize that profile.**

**"Cris - it's Krum!"**

"You were still a student and playing professionally?" Prongs asked wide eyed. Viktor nodded and Padfoot nearly exploded.

"That's incredible!" Padfoot exclaimed.

"That's the chapter!" Scarlett shouted then smiled sweetly giving the book to her mother.


	19. Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire

"**Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire," **Robin read.

"So you find out who the champions are." Lily said.

"Yeah," Cris said wondering what her parents would think about her name coming out of the Goblet.

**"****I don't believe it!" Ron said, in a stunned voice, as the Hogwarts students filed back up the steps behind the party from Durmstrang. "Krum, Cris! Viktor Krum!"**

**"****For heaven's sake, Ron, he's only a Quidditch player," said Hermione.**

"Only a Quidditch Player?!" the Quidditch fanatics asked.

"Really, it's like you with Lockhart, Ron's just that way with Quidditch." Lily said. Hermione was blushing and Viktor was chuckling a bit so Robin continued reading.

**"****Only a Quidditch player?" Ron said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe his ears. "Hermione - he's one of the best Seekers in the world! I had no idea he was still at school!"**

**As they recrossed the entrance hall with the rest of the Hogwarts students heading for the Great Hall, Cris saw Lee Jordan jumping up and down on the soles of his feet to get a better look at the back of Krum's head. **

"Only because we wouldn't pick him up." Fred said.

"Would you pick me up?" Cris asked innocently.

"Maybe," George said with a smirk.

**Several sixth-year girls were frantically searching their pockets as they walked - "Oh I don't believe it; I haven't got a single quill on me -"**

"They'll have all year." Gwen said.

"I did get some students asking me." Viktor said.

"I bet," Gwen said with a smile.

**"****D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?"**

"I've had to do that before." Viktor said.

"Wow, people are desperate." Lily said.

**"****Really," Hermione said loftily as they passed the girls, now squabbling over the lipstick.**

**"****I'm getting his autograph if I can," said Ron. "You haven't got a quill, have you, Cris?"**

"I don't think I have seen Ron act like that." Bill said.

"Just wait for it, he acts crazier than you would believe." Cris said. Ron looked down; he wasn't looking forward to when Cris' name is pulled out of the Goblet.

**"****Nope, they're upstairs in my bag," said Cris.**

"Which is a good thing, can imagine what would have happened if you had gotten it?" Cris asked.

"I probably would've acted just like Hermione did with Lockhart." Ron said.

"Maybe, but I think it would have been worse." Hermione said.

**They walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down. Ron took care to sit on the side facing the doorway, because Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students were still gathered around it,**

"Ve vere vondering vhere to sit, but Professor Karkaroff decided for us." Viktor said.

"That sucks; Red wanted you to sit with us." Cris said with a grin in Ron's direction. Ron blushed brightly as the group chuckled a bit more.

**apparently unsure about where they should sit. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table. They were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces. Three of them were still clutching scarves and shawls around their heads.**

**"****It's not that cold," said Hermione defensively. "Why didn't they bring cloaks?"**

**"****Over here! Come and sit over here!" Ron hissed. "Over here! Hermione, budge up, make a space -"**

**"****What?"**

**"****Too late," said Ron bitterly.**

"Wow, you weren't even paying attention." Cris said.

"You were just playing goo goo eyes with Cedric." Ron said.

"No I wasn't," Cris said blushing.

**Viktor Krum and his fellow Durmstrang students had settled themselves at the Slytherin table. Cris could see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle looking very smug about this. As she watched, Malfoy bent forward to speak to Krum.**

"Were you trying to suck up to him?" Charlie asked.

"I was just as excited as you were about him." Draco said.

**"****Yeah, that's right, smarm up to him, Malfoy," said Ron scathingly. "I bet Krum can see right through him, though… bet he gets people fawning over him all the time… **

**Where d'you reckon they're going to sleep? We could offer him a space in our dormitory, Cris… I wouldn't mind giving him my bed; I could kip on a camp bed."**

"They'll be sleeping on the ship." Tonks said.

"I didn't know that at the time." Ron said blushing slightly.

**Hermione snorted.**

**"****They look a lot happier than the Beauxbatons lot," said Cris. The Durmstrang students were pulling off their heavy furs and looking up at the starry black ceiling with expressions of interest; a couple of them were picking up the golden plates and goblets and examining them, apparently impressed.**

**Up at the staff table, Filch, the caretaker, was adding chairs. He was wearing his moldy old tailcoat in honor of the occasion. Cris was surprised to see that he added four chairs, two on either side of Dumbledore's. "But there are only two extra people," Cris said. "Why's Filch putting out four chairs, who else is coming?" **

"Other judges maybe." Moony said.

"It's possible." Lily said.

**"****Eh?" said Ron vaguely. He was still staring avidly at Krum.**

**When all the students had entered the Hall and settled down at their House tables, the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime. When their headmistress appeared, the pupils from Beauxbatons leapt to their feet. A few of the Hogwarts students laughed. The Beauxbatons party appeared quite unembarrassed, however, and did not resume their seats until Madame Maxime had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing, and a silence fell over the Great Hall.**

**"****Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests," said Dumbledore, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."**

**One of the Beauxbatons girls still clutching a muffler around her head gave what was unmistakably a derisive laugh.**

"We weren't used to ze cold like you are." Fleur said.

"That's what I thought." Cris said.

**"****No one's making you stay!" Hermione whispered, bristling at her.**

**"****The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," said Dumbledore. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"**

**He sat down, and Cris saw Karkaroff lean forward at once and engage him in conversation.**

"We were friends at one point." Dumbledore said sadly.

**The plates in front of them filled with food as usual. The house-elves in the kitchen seemed to have pulled out all the stops; there was a greater variety of dishes in front of them than Cris had ever seen, including several that were definitely foreign.**

**"****What's that?" said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding.**

**"****Bouillabaisse," said Hermione. **

"It's actually really good." Lily said remembering her time in France.

**"****Bless you," said Ron.**

**"****It's French," said Hermione, "I had it on holiday summer before last. It's very nice."**

**"****I'll take your word for it," said Ron, helping himself to black pudding.**

"You don't like to try new things do you?" Gwen asked.

"You should, you would be surprised on what you like and what you don't." Remus said.

**The Great Hall seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there were barely twenty additional students there; perhaps it was because their differently colored uniforms stood out so clearly against the black of the Hogwarts' robes. Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep bloodred. **

"I can see why, with the extra colors it would look a lot crowded." Gwen said.

"It's a good thing that the robes are black." Ron said.

"Can you imagine any other color?" Charlie asked.

"No," Bill said.

**Hagrid sidled into the Hall through a door behind the staff table twenty minutes after the start of the feast. He slid into his seat at the end and waved at Cris, Ron, and Hermione with a very heavily bandaged hand.**

**"****Skrewts doing all right, Hagrid?" Cris called.**

**"****Thrivin'," Hagrid called back happily.**

"I wonder if he has found what they like to eat." Sirius said.

"I think he did," Cris said.

**"****Yeah, I'll just bet they are," said Ron quietly. "Looks like they've finally found a food they like, doesn't it? Hagrid's fingers."**

"It's not it is it?" Lily asked.

"No," Cris said.

**At that moment, a voice said, "Excuse me, are you wanting ze bouillabaisse?" **

**It was the girl from Beauxbatons who had laughed during Dumbledore's speech. She had finally removed her muffler. A long sheet of silvery-blonde hair fell almost to her waist. She had large, deep blue eyes, and very white, even teeth.**

"It's me," Fleur said with a blush.

"Fleur gets a good description and we don't?" Hermione asked.

"Is there a bad description for her?" Cris asked.

"No," Ron said going red.

**Ron went purple. He stared up at her, opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out except a faint gurgling noise.**

Ron blushed brighter while the group chuckled even more.

**"****Yeah, have it," said Cris, pushing the dish toward the girl.**

**"****You 'ave finished wiz it?"**

**"****Yeah," Ron said breathlessly. "Yeah, it was excellent."**

**The girl picked up the dish and carried it carefully off to the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still goggling at the girl as though he had never seen one before.**

"Poor Ron," Cris said giggling.

"Oh yeah, you have Veela blood don't you?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, my grandmozer es Veela." Fleur said.

**Cris started to laugh. The sound seemed to jog Ron back to his senses.**

**"She's a Veela!" he said hoarsely to Cris. **

"Ah yes, Ron is susceptible to Veela charm." Remus said with a laugh. Ron blushed brighter as Fleur smiled reassuringly at him as she leaned against Bill.

**"Of course she isn't!" said Hermione tartly. "I don't see anyone else gaping at her like an idiot!"**

**But she wasn't entirely right about that. As the girl crossed the Hall, many boys' heads turned, and some of them seemed to have become temporarily speechless, just like Ron.**

"Poor guys," Gwen said with a laugh.

"Et 'appens a lot," Fleur said.

"I see that." Gwen said.

**"****I'm telling you, that's not a normal girl!" said Ron, leaning sideways so he could keep a clear view of her. "They don't make them like that at Hogwarts!"**

"You're asking to be slapped right there." Charlie said.

"I was." Ron said.

**Hermione and Cris slapped Ron upside the head and was being glared by the two.**

"**What's that supposed to me?" Cris asked. **

"**You know what I mean, both of you are good looking but up against her…" Ron said and he was slapped again by the two girls. **

"**You should probably stop while you're ahead Ron." Seamus said who was across from them. **

"Head his advice young Ron, Cris has her mother's temper, which means she will yell at the top of her lungs." Prongs said.

"We know," Ron said Hermione said.

**Hermione was pointing up at the staff table. The two remaining empty seats had just been filled. Ludo Bagman was now sitting on Professor Karkaroff's other side, while Mr. Crouch, Percy's boss, was next to Madame Maxime. "What are they doing here?" said Cris in surprise.**

**"****They organized the Triwizard Tournament, didn't they?" said Hermione. "I suppose they wanted to be here to see it start."**

"Or they could be judges as well." Padfoot said.

"Good theory." Moony said.

**When the second course arrived they noticed a number of unfamiliar desserts too. Ron examined an odd sort of pale blancmange closely, then moved it carefully a few inches to his right, so that it would be clearly visible from the Ravenclaw table. The girl who looked like a Veela appeared to have eaten enough, however, and did not come over to get it.**

**Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Dumbledore stood up again. A pleasant sort of tension seemed to fill the Hall now. Cris felt a slight thrill of excitement, wondering what was coming. Several seats down from them, Fred and George were leaning forward, staring at Dumbledore with great concentration. **

"They are trying to find a loophole." Prongs said in a whisper.

"I agree," Padfoot whispered back.

**"****The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket —"**

**"****The what?" Cris muttered.**

"Sounds like a funeral." Gwen said.

"It's just where they keep it." Percy said.

"That makes more sense." Gwen said.

**Ron shrugged.**

**"****- just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."**

**There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledged it with a jovial wave of his hand. Bartemius Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced. Remembering him in his neat suit at the Quidditch World Cup, Cris thought he looked strange in wizard's robes. His toothbrush mustache and severe parting looked very odd next to Dumbledore's long white hair and beard. **

"He doesn't sound very nice." Gwen said.

"He isn't really," Cris said.

**"****Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."**

**At the mention of the word "champions," the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen. **

"Of course, he sounds very exciting." Lily J said.

"It has gone on again has it?" Cris asked.

"Not yet at least." James said.

"Good," Cris mumbled.

**Perhaps Dumbledore had noticed their sudden stillness, for he smiled as he said, "The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."**

**Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; Dennis Creevey actually stood on his chair to see it properly, but, being so tiny, his head hardly rose above anyone else's.**

**"****The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."**

"You know, Cris could do them if she was old enough." Prongs said.

"Yeah, but thankfully she isn't." Lily said. Cris looked away and clutched her forearm where the scar was.

**At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.**

**"****As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."**

"Interesting, I'm guessing it has some sort of spell." Gwen said.

"Correct Miss Johnson." Dumbledore said.

**Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.**

**"****Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.**

**"****To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.**

"Good," Mrs. Weasley said looking over at the twins who were grinning mischievously.

"They tried an aging potion I bet," Padfoot said.

"That wouldn't work; the line was made by Dumbledore." Moony whispered.

**"****Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."**

"What a lovely thing to think about before bed." Gwen said.

**"****An Age Line!" Fred Weasley said, his eyes glinting, as they all made their way across the Hall to the doors into the entrance hall. "Well, that should be fooled by an Aging Potion, shouldn't it? And once your name's in that goblet, you're laughing - it can't tell whether you're seventeen or not!"**

"Ah, but the age line might have a trick or two." Padfoot said.

"That it does," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.

**"****But I don't think anyone under seventeen will stand a chance," said Hermione, "we just haven't learned enough…"**

**"****Speak for yourself," said George shortly. "You'll try and get in, won't you, Cris?" **

"No she won't, did you?" Lily asked.

"I didn't enter." Cris said. It was the truth, but someone else entered her name under a different school.

"Good, I can breathe easier." Lily said. Cris looked up at Fred and George and they felt her slight panic and wrapped her in a hug.

**Cris thought briefly of Dumbledore's insistence that nobody under seventeen should submit their name, but then the wonderful picture of herself winning the Triwizard Tournament filled her mind again… She wondered how angry Dumbledore would be if someone younger than seventeen did find a way to get over the Age Line.**

**"****Where is he?" said Ron, who wasn't listening to a word of this conversation, but looking through the crowd to see what had become of Krum. "Dumbledore didn't say where the Durmstrang people are sleeping, did he?"**

"Ve stayed on our ship." Viktor said chuckling a bit.

**But this query was answered almost instantly; they were level with the Slytherin table now, and Karkaroff had just bustled up to his students.**

**"****Back to the ship, then," he was saying. "Viktor, how are you feeling? Did you eat enough? Should I send for some mulled wine from the kitchens?"**

**Cris saw Krum shake his head as he pulled his furs back on. "Professor, I vood like some vine," said one of the other Durmstrang boys hopefully.**

"He should have known better, Karkaroff alvays played favorites." Viktor said.

"That doesn't surprise me." Sirius said in spite.

**"****I wasn't offering it to you, Poliakoff," snapped Karkaroff, his warmly paternal air vanishing in an instant. "I notice you have dribbled food all down the front of your robes again, disgusting boy -"**

"How rude," Gwen said.

**Karkaroff turned and led his students toward the doors, reaching them at exactly the same moment as Cris, Ron, and Hermione. Cris stopped to let him walk through first.**

"So polite, I'll never know where you got it from; it certainly wasn't my dear _sister._" Lily said spitting out the last word nastily.

**"****Thank you," said Karkaroff carelessly, glancing at her. And then Karkaroff froze. He turned his head back to Cris and stared at her as though he couldn't believe his eyes. Behind their headmaster, the students from Durmstrang came to a halt too. Karkaroff's eyes moved slowly up Cris' face and fixed upon her scar.**

"How did he notice it? You always keep it hidden." Remus asked.

"I was trying something new; I grew my bangs out, just to see how I would look." Cris said.

"Oh," Remus said.

**The Durmstrang students were staring curiously at Cris too. Out of the corner of her eye, Cris saw comprehension dawn on a few of their faces. The boy with food all down his front nudged the girl next to him and pointed openly at Cris' forehead.**

**"****Yeah, that's Cristal Potter," said a growling voice from behind them.**

**Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster.**

**The color drained from Karkaroff's face as Cris watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him.**

**"****You!" he said, staring at Moody as though unsure he was really seeing him.**

"Is he a convicted Death Eater or something?" Padfoot asked.

"Yeah, he is." Remus said. Viktor's eyes widened.

"So that's vhy he ran at the end of the year." Viktor whispered.

**"Me," said Moody grimly. "And unless you've got anything to say to Potter, Karkaroff, you might want to move. You're blocking the doorway."**

**It was true; half the students in the Hall were now waiting behind them, looking over one another's shoulders to see what was causing the holdup.**

"Just Cris being gawked at." Ginny said teasingly. Cris mock glared at her and stuck out her tongue.

**Without another word, Professor Karkaroff swept his students away with him. Moody watched him until he was out of sight, his magical eye fixed upon his back, a look of intense dislike upon his mutilated face.**

"That would be because he got away." Mr. Weasley said.

"That's understandable." Gwen said.

**As the next day was Saturday, most students would normally have breakfasted late. Cris, Ron, and Hermione, however, were not alone in rising much earlier than they usually did on weekends. When they went down into the entrance hall, they saw about twenty people milling around it, some of them eating toast, all examining the Goblet of Fire. It had been placed in the center of the hall on the stool that normally bore the Sorting Hat. A thin golden line had been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction.**

"That would be the age line, right?" Gwen asked. The group nodded and Robin went back to reading.

**"****Anyone put their name in yet?" Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.**

**"****All the Durmstrang lot," she replied. "But I haven't seen anyone from Hogwarts yet."**

**"****Bet some of them put it in last night after we'd all gone to bed," said Cris. "I would've if it had been me… wouldn't have wanted everyone watching. What if the goblet just gobbed you right back out again?" **

"That would have been embarrassing." Charlie said.

**Someone laughed behind Cris. Turning, she saw Fred, George, and Lee Jordan hurrying down the staircase, all three of them looking extremely excited.**

**"****Done it," Fred said in a triumphant whisper to Cris, Ron, and Hermione. "Just taken it."**

**"****What?" said Ron.**

**"****The Aging Potion, dung brains," said Fred.**

"Fredrick Gideon Weasley, do not call your brother that." Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"Sorry, mum." Fred said.

**"****One drop each," said George, rubbing his hands together with glee. "We only need to be a few months older."**

**"****We're going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins," said Lee, grinning broadly.**

**"****I'm not sure this is going to work, you know," said Hermione warningly. "I'm sure Dumbledore will have thought of this."**

**Fred, George, and Lee ignored her.**

"That's normal." Hermione said.

**"****Ready?" Fred said to the other two, quivering with excitement. "C'mon, then - I'll go first -"**

"If this doesn't work then I feel sorry for them." Prongs said.

**Cris watched, fascinated, as Fred pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket bearing the words **_**Fred Weasley - Hogwarts**_**. Fred walked right up to the edge of the line and stood there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, with the eyes of every person in the entrance hall upon him, he took a great breath and stepped over the line. **

The pranksters clapped but Cris smirked they were in for a surprise.

**For a split second Cris thought it had worked - George certainly thought so, for he let out a yell of triumph and leapt after Fred - but next moment, there was a loud sizzling sound, and both twins were hurled out of the golden circle as though they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter. They landed painfully, ten feet away on the cold stone floor, and to add insult to injury, there was a loud popping noise, and both of them sprouted identical long white beards.**

"The room let out a laugh.

"Oh I wish I had a picture." Mrs. Weasley said. Cris smirked and the others noticed.

"You didn't." George said. Cris nodded her smile wider.

"I paid Colin to take a picture; it's in my photo album if you want to see it." Cris said.

"Traitor!" the twins yelled.

"That's my girl." Prongs said with a wide smile.

**The entrance hall rang with laughter. Even Fred and George joined in, once they had gotten to their feet and taken a good look at each other's beards.**

**"I did warn you," said a deep, amused voice, and everyone turned to see Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall. He surveyed Fred and George, his eyes twinkling. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."**

"So it wasn't a very original idea, but still brilliant." Padfoot said.

"Why thank you, Messer Padfoot we're glad that you approve." George said with a smile.

**Fred and George set off for the hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, who was howling with laughter, and Cris, Ron, and Hermione, also chortling, went in to breakfast.**

"I would have pushed Lee in so he would have a beard as well." Prongs said.

"We should have." Fred said.

"Yeah, we should have." George said.

**The decorations in the Great Hall had changed this morning. As it was Halloween, a cloud of live bats was fluttering around the enchanted ceiling, while hundreds of carved pumpkins leered from every corner. Cris led the way over to Dean and Seamus, who were discussing those Hogwarts students of seventeen or over who might be entering.**

**"****There's a rumor going around that Warrington got up early and put his name in," Dean told Cris. "That big bloke from Slytherin who looks like a sloth."**

**Cris, who had played Quidditch against Warrington, shook her head in disgust.**

"The champion better not be a Slytherin." Padfoot said.

**"****We can't have a Slytherin champion!"**

**"****And all the Hufflepuffs are talking about Diggory," said Seamus contemptuously. **

"He sounds descent, but when is the date?" Lily asked. Cris smiled but didn't say anything else.

**"****But I wouldn't have thought he'd have wanted to risk his good looks."**

**"****Listen!" said Hermione suddenly.**

**People were cheering out in the entrance hall. They all swiveled around in their seats and saw Angelina Johnson coming into the Hall, grinning in an embarrassed sort of way. A tall black girl who played Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Angelina came over to them, sat down, and said, "Well, I've done it! Just put my name in!" **

"My future wife could've been champion?" Charlie asked.

"She told you." Victoire said.

"And the two of you haven't met yet." James said.

"Oh yeah," Charlie said.

**"****You're kidding!" said Ron, looking impressed.**

**"****So your seventeen, then?" asked Cris.**

**"Course she is, can't see a beard, can you?" said Ron.**

"I was just clarifying all I knew was she was in sixth year and her birth day." Cris said.

**"****I had my birthday last week," said Angelina.**

**"****Well, I'm glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," said Hermione. "I really hope you get it, Angelina!"**

**"****Thanks, Hermione," said Angelina, smiling at her.**

**"****Yeah, better you than Pretty-Boy Diggory," said Seamus, causing several Hufflepuffs passing their table to scowl heavily at him. Even Cris glared when Cedric looked over he smiled and she blushed slightly.**

"**So what's with you and Diggory?" Seamus asked Cris.**

"**It's none of your business." Cris snapped.**

"Hmm, how big was this crush?" Prongs asked.

"It was slight, but afterward I realized that I just liked him as a friend." Cris said.

"Good," Fred and George said.

**"****What're we going to do today, then?" Ron asked Cris and Hermione when they had finished breakfast and were leaving the Great Hall.**

**"****We haven't been down to visit Hagrid yet," said Cris.**

**"****Okay," said Ron, "just as long as he doesn't ask us to donate a few fingers to the skrewts."**

"I don't think he will." Sirius said.

"Well, you never know." Cris said.

"That's true." Robin said.

**A look of great excitement suddenly dawned on Hermione's face.**

**"****I've just realized - I haven't asked Hagrid to join S.P.E.W. yet!" she said brightly.**

"I don't think he'll join." Charlie said.

**"****Wait for me, will you, while I nip upstairs and get the badges?"**

**"****What is it with her?" said Ron, exasperated, as Hermione ran away up the marble staircase.**

**"****Hey, Ron," said Cris suddenly. "It's your friend…"**

Ron blushed brightly and looked away.

**The students from Beauxbatons were coming through the front doors from the grounds, among them, the Veela-girl. Those gathered around the Goblet of Fire stood back to let them pass, watching eagerly.**

**Madame Maxime entered the hall behind her students and organized them into a line. One by one, the Beauxbatons students stepped across the Age Line and dropped their slips of parchment into the blue-white flames. As each name entered the fire, it turned briefly red and emitted sparks.**

**"****What d'you reckon'll happen to the ones who aren't chosen?" Ron muttered to Cris as the Veela-girl dropped her parchment into the Goblet of Fire. "Reckon they'll go back to school, or hang around to watch the tournament?" **

"Hang around and cheer on their class mate." Lily said.

**"****Dunno," said Cris. "Hang around, I suppose… Madame Maxime's staying to judge, isn't she?"**

**When all the Beauxbatons students had submitted their names, Madame Maxime led them back out of the hall and out onto the grounds again.**

**"****Where are they sleeping, then?" said Ron, moving toward the front doors and staring after them. **

"We slept in ze carriage, et was actually quite comfortable." Fleur said.

**A loud rattling noise behind them announced Hermione's reappearance with the box of S.P.E.W. badges.**

**"****Oh good, hurry up," said Ron, and he jumped down the stone steps, keeping his eyes on the back of the Veela-girl, **

"Good grief Ron, it's a good thing you're two best friends are girls otherwise you would be so entranced." Bill said.

"And what about you?" Ron asked.

"I can see past her looks, underneath she is actually sweet and caring and really smart." Bill said. Fleur blushed but kissed his cheek in thanks.

**who was now halfway across the lawn with Madame Maxime.**

**As they neared Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the mystery of the Beauxbatons' sleeping quarters was solved. The gigantic powder-blue carriage in which they had arrived had been parked two hundred yards from Hagrid's front door, and the students were climbing back inside it. The elephantine flying horses that had pulled the carriage were now grazing in a makeshift paddock alongside it. Cris knocked on Hagrid's door, and Fang's booming barks answered instantly.**

**"****Bout time!" said Hagrid, when he'd flung open the door. "Thought you lot'd forgotten where I live!"**

**"****We've been really busy, Hag -" Hermione started to say, but then she stopped dead, looking up at Hagrid, apparently lost for words.**

**Hagrid was wearing his best (and very horrible) hairy brown suit, plus a checked yellow-and-orange tie. This wasn't the worst of it, though; he had evidently tried to tame his hair, using large quantities of what appeared to be axle grease. It was now slicked down into two bunches - perhaps he had tried a ponytail like Bill's, but found he had too much hair. The look didn't really suit Hagrid at all. **

"Hagrid has a crush." Padfoot sang.

"What was he thinking with that though?" Lily asked.

"Who knows." Prongs said.

**For a moment, Hermione goggled at him, then, obviously deciding not to comment, she said, "Erm - where are the skrewts."**

**"****Out by the pumpkin patch," said Hagrid happily. "They're get-tin' massive, mus' be nearly three foot long now. On'y trouble is, they've started killin' each other."**

"Darn," Padfoot said obviously not upset at all by it.

**"Oh no, really?" said Hermione, shooting a repressive look at Ron, who, staring at Hagrid's odd hairstyle, had just opened his mouth to say something about it.**

**"****Yeah," said Hagrid sadly. "S' okay, though, I've got 'em in separate boxes now. Still got abou' twenty."**

**"****Well, that's lucky," said Ron. Hagrid missed the sarcasm.**

"Hagrid is always like that." Sirius said.

"We could tell." The trio said.

**Hagrid's cabin comprised a single room, in one corner of which was a gigantic bed covered in a patchwork quilt. A similarly enormous wooden table and chairs stood in front of the fire beneath the quantity of cured hams and dead birds hanging from the ceiling. They sat down at the table while Hagrid started to make tea, and were soon immersed in yet more discussion of the Triwizard Tournament. Hagrid seemed quite as excited about it as they were.**

**"****You wait," he said, grinning. "You jus' wait. Yer going ter see some stuff yeh've never seen before. Firs' task… ah, but I'm not supposed ter say."**

"He'll tell you anyway." Prongs said.

"He can never keep anything secret." Padfoot said.

"We know," the trio said.

**"****Go on, Hagrid!" Cris, Ron, and Hermione urged him, but he just shook his head, grinning.**

**"****I don' want ter spoil it fer yeh," said Hagrid. "But it's gonna be spectacular, I'll tell yeh that. Them champions're going ter have their work cut out.**

"It's going to be dangerous, that's all I know." Lily said.

**Never thought I'd live ter see the Triwizard Tournament played again!"**

"Was he alive the last time it was played?" Tonks asked.

"No, I think that he was just saying that he didn't think he would get a chance to see the Tournament." Dumbledore said.

"That makes sense." Lily J said.

**They ended up having lunch with Hagrid, though they didn't eat much – Hagrid had made what he said was a beef casserole, but after Hermione unearthed a large talon in hers, she, Cris, and Ron rather lost their appetites. **

"Anyone would, I don't think I want to know what it was." Hermione said.

"Knowing Hagrid, any number of things." Bill said.

**However, they enjoyed themselves trying to make Hagrid tell them what the tasks in the tournament were going to be, speculating which of the entrants were likely to be selected as champions, and wondering whether Fred and George were beardless yet. A light rain had started to fall by midafternoon; it was very cozy sitting by the fire, listening to the gentle patter of the drops on the window, watching Hagrid darning his socks and arguing with Hermione about house-elves - for he flatly refused to join S.P.E.W. when she showed him her badges.**

**"It'd be doin' 'em an unkindness, Hermione," he said gravely, threading a massive bone needle with thick yellow yarn. "It's in their nature ter look after humans, that's what they like, see? Yeh'd be makin' 'em unhappy ter take away their work, an' insutin' 'em if yeh tried ter pay 'em."**

"But Dobby," Gwen said.

"He's just weird; some creatures have the weird ones." Sirius said.

**"But Cris set Dobby free, and he was over the moon about it!" said Hermione. "And we heard he's asking for wages now!"**

**"Yeah, well, yeh get weirdos in every breed. I'm not sayin' there isn't the odd elf who'd take freedom, but yeh'll never persuade most of 'em ter do it - no, nothin' doin', Hermione."**

**Hermione looked very cross indeed and stuffed her box of badges back into her cloak pocket.**

**By half past five it was growing dark, and Ron, Cris, and Hermione decided it was time to get back up to the castle for the Halloween feast - and, more important, the announcement of the school champions.**

"This should be interesting." Prongs said. Cris was growing more worried, her heart was pounding in her chest and she was filled with anxiety.

**"I'll come with yeh," said Hagrid, putting away his darning. "Jus' give us a sec."**

**Hagrid got up, went across to the chest of drawers beside his bed, and began searching for something inside it. They didn't pay too much attention until a truly horrible smell reached their nostrils. Coughing, Ron said, "Hagrid, what's that?"**

**"Eh?" said Hagrid, turning around with a large bottle in his hand. "Don' yeh like it?"**

**"Is that aftershave?" said Hermione in a slightly choked voice. **

"Good grief, I've never seen Hagrid act like that." Charlie said.

**"Er - eau de cologne," Hagrid muttered. He was blushing.**

**"Maybe it's a bit much," he said gruffly. "I'll go take it off, hang on…"**

**He stumped out of the cabin, and they saw him washing himself vigorously in the water barrel outside the window.**

**"Eau de cologne?" said Hermione in amazement. "Hagrid?"**

**"And what's with the hair and the suit?" said Cris in an undertone.**

"I think Hagrid has a crush on Madame Maxine." Robin said.

"Maybe," Sirius said.

**"Look!" said Ron suddenly, pointing out of the window. Hagrid had just straightened up and turned 'round. If he had been blushing before, it was nothing to what he was doing now. Getting to their feet very cautiously, so that Hagrid wouldn't spot them, Cris, Ron, and Hermione peered through the window and saw that Madame Maxime and the Beauxbatons students had just emerged from their carriage, clearly about to set off for the feast too. They couldn't hear what Hagrid was saying, but he was talking to Madame Maxime with a rapt, misty-eyed expression Cris had only ever seen him wear once before - when he had **been** looking at the baby dragon, Norbert. **

"He's in love," James sang.

"Well yeah, they do wind up married." Al said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." James said shrugging.

"They got married?!" Cris exclaimed.

"It makes sense." Hermione said.

**"He's going up to the castle with her!" said Hermione indignantly. "I thought he was waiting for us!"**

"He was always easily distractible." Padfoot said.

**Without so much as a backward glance at his cabin, Hagrid was trudging off up the grounds with Madame Maxime, the Beauxbatons students following in their wake, jogging to keep up with their enormous strides.**

**"He fancies her!" said Ron incredulously. "Well, if they end up having children, they'll be setting a world record - bet any baby of theirs would weigh about a ton." **

"Do they have any kids?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, one, a boy." Al said.

"How sweet," Cris said.

**They let themselves out of the cabin and shut the door behind them. It was surprisingly dark outside. Drawing their cloaks more closely around themselves, they set off up the sloping lawns.**

**"Ooh it's them, look!" Hermione whispered.**

**The Durmstrang party was walking up toward the castle from the lake. Viktor Krum was walking side by side with Karkaroff, and the other Durmstrang students were straggling along behind them. Ron watched Krum excitedly, but Krum did not look around as he reached the front doors a little ahead of Hermione, Ron, and Cris and proceeded through them.**

**When they entered the candlelit Great Hall it was almost full. The Goblet of Fire had been moved; it was now standing in front of Dumbledore's empty chair at the teachers' table. Fred and George - clean-shaven again - seemed to have taken their disappointment fairly well. **

"We tried, that's all we cared about." Fred said.

"We would have tried too." Prongs said.

**"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred as Cris, Ron, and Hermione sat down.**

"Me too," Padfoot said.

**"So do I!" said Hermione breathlessly. "Well, we'll soon know!"**

**The Halloween feast seemed to take much longer than usual. Perhaps because it was their second feast in two days, Cris didn't seem to fancy the extravagantly prepared food as much as she would have normally. Like everyone else in the Hall, judging by the constantly craning necks, the impatient expressions on every face, the fidgeting, and the standing up to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating yet, Cris simply wanted the plates to clear, and to hear who had been selected as champions.**

**At long last, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state; there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died away almost instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.**

"That seems weird." Gwen said.

"Maybe he was just tired." Cris suggested with a shrug.

**"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber" - he indicated the door behind the staff table - "where they will be receiving their first instructions."**

**He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins were extinguished, plunging them into a state of semidarkness.**

"Ooohhh, suspenseful." Lily said.

"It certainly was." Hermione said.

**The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched, waiting… A few people kept checking their watches…**

**"Any second," Lee Jordan whispered, two seats away from Cris.**

**The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again. Sparks began to fly from it. Next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it - the whole room gasped.**

**Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue-white.**

**"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum."**

"Congrates," Padfoot said to Viktor. Viktor gave him a smile and nodded his head.

**"No surprises there!" yelled Ron as a storm of applause and cheering swept the Hall. Cris saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table and slouch up toward Dumbledore; he turned right, walked along the staff table, and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.**

**"Bravo, Viktor!" boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"**

**The clapping and chatting died down. Now everyone's attention was focused again on the goblet, which, seconds later, turned red once more. A second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.**

**"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"**

"You have to have the girl." Prongs said smiling at Fleur.

"Thank you Mr. Potter," Fleur said.

**"Now you know her name, Ron!" Cris shouted as the girl who so resembled a Veela got gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair, and swept up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.**

**"Oh look, they're all disappointed," Hermione said over the noise, nodding toward the remainder of the Beauxbatons party. "Disappointed" was a bit of an understatement, Cris thought. Two of the girls who had not been selected had dissolved into tears and were sobbing with their heads on their arms.**

"They're just upset, they'll be fine in the morning." Tonks said.

**When Fleur Delacour too had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence so stiff with excitement you could almost taste it. The Hogwarts champion next…**

"No one from Slytherin," Padfoot said.

**And the Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air, and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.**

**"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"**

Cris looked down and away from everyone else.

"At least it's not a Slytherin." Padfoot said.

"True," Prongs said.

**"No!" said Ron loudly, but nobody heard him except Cris; the uproar from the next table was too great. Every single Hufflepuff had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as Cedric made his way past them, grinning broadly, and headed off toward the chamber behind the teachers' table. Indeed, the applause for Cedric went on so long that it was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.**

**"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real —"**

**But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.**

**The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment. **

"What? There are only supposed to be three champions." Moony said.

"It must have been tricked." Lily said.

"Whoever it is they now have to compete." Prongs said.

"Please don't let it be Cris." Lily said.

**Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read out - "Cristal Potter."**

"No!" cried her parents.

"How did you enter?" Padfoot asked.

"I didn't enter; someone entered me without me knowing." Cris said.

"But now you're going to be in danger," Lily said wide eyed at her daughter.

"Nothing more than I'm used to." Cris said.

"Please tell me Ron and Hermione help you out, or someone does." Prongs said.

"I had help," Cris said with a smile.

"Good." The marauders said.

"That's the chapter." Robin said handing the book to her brother.


	20. Chapter 17: The Four Champions

"**Chapter 17: The Four Champions," **Remus read.

"Cool we get to find out what they said in the room." Hermione said.

"And the way some people reacted." Ginny said glaring at her brother.

**Cris sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at her. She was stunned. She felt numb. She was surely dreaming. She had not heard correctly.**

**There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Cris as she sat, frozen, in her seat. Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Professor Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Professor Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. Cris turned to Ron and Hermione; beyond them, she saw the long Gryffindor table all watching her, openmouthed.**

**"****I didn't put my name in," Cris said blankly. "You know I didn't."**

**Both of them stared just as blankly back.**

"We were just as shocked as you were." Hermione said.

"I know," Cris said gently.

**At the top table, Professor Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to Professor McGonagall.**

**"****Cristal Potter!" he called again. "Cristal! Up here, if you please!"**

**"****Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Cris a slight push.**

**Cris got to her feet, trod on the hem of her robes, and stumbled slightly. She set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. It felt like an immensely long walk; the top table didn't seem to be getting any nearer at all, and she could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon her, as though each were a searchlight. The buzzing grew louder and louder. **

**After what seemed like an hour, she was right in front of Dumbledore, feeling the stares of all the teachers upon her.**

**"****Well… through the door, Cris," said Dumbledore. He wasn't smiling.**

"I think it was a mixture of worry and shock." Dumbledore said. Cris nodded but didn't say anything else.

**Cris moved off along the teachers' table. Hagrid was seated right at the end. **

**He did not wink at Cris, or wave, or give any of his usual signs of greeting. He looked completely astonished and stared at Cris as she passed like everyone else. **

"We were all shocked." Ginny said.

"It's hard not to be." Remus said.

**Cris went through the door out of the Great Hall and found herself in a smaller room, lined with paintings of witches and wizards. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite him. The faces in the portraits turned to look at her as she entered. She saw a wizened witch flit out of the frame of her picture and into the one next to it, which contained a wizard with a walrus mustache. The wizened witch started whispering in his ear.**

"The portraits are big gossips." Padfoot said.

"That they are." Prongs said.

**Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flames. Krum, hunched up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when Cris walked in and threw back her sheet of long, silvery hair.**

"Sorry," Fleur said.

"It's okay, you didn't know at the time." Cris said.

**"****What is it?" she said. "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"**

**She thought she had come to deliver a message.**

"Well I can see why you would think that, they were all of age and Cris wasn't." Sirius said.

**Cris didn't know how to explain what had just happened. She just stood there, looking at the three champions. It struck her how very tall all of them were.**

"Well you are pretty short, but you'll get there." Sirius said.

**There was a sound of scurrying feet behind her, and Ludo Bagman entered the room. He took Cris by the arm and led her forward.**

**"****Extraordinary!" he muttered, squeezing Cris' arm. **

**"****Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen… lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "May I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard champion?" **

"Shouldn't it be called Quadwizard Tournament instead?" Gwen asked.

"You would think wouldn't you?" Robin said.

**Viktor Krum straightened up. His surly face darkened as he surveyed Cris. Cedric looked surprised. He looked from Bagman to Cris and back again as though sure he must have misheard what Bagman had said. Fleur Delacour, however, tossed her hair, smiling, and said, "Oh, very funny joke, Meester Bagman." **

Fleur blushed but didn't say anything else.

**"****Joke?" Bagman repeated, bewildered. "No, no, not at all! Cristal's name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!"**

**Krum's thick eyebrows contracted slightly. Cedric was still looking politely bewildered. Fleur frowned.**

**"****But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said contemptuously to Bagman. "She cannot compete. She is too young." **

"I stand corrected," Fleur said with a smile. Cris smiled weakly at her but didn't say anything else.

**"Well… it is amazing," said Bagman, rubbing his smooth chin and smiling down at Cris. "But, as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as her name's come out of the goblet… I mean, I don't think there can be any ducking out at this stage… It's down in the rules, you're obliged… Cris will just have to do the best she —"**

**The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people came in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. Cris heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door. **

"I don't think anyone was very happy." Bill said.

"No not really." Cris said.

**"Madame Maxime!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little girl is to compete also!"**

"You know, I may be short but I'm feisty, just ask Voldemort." Cris said.

"Vhy vood ve vant to do that?" Viktor asked.

"He's tried to kill me, many times, and has yet to succeed and apparently doesn't seeing as three of my children are here and I wouldn't have children if I knew that Voldemort was still alive." Cris said.

"Um, I'm glad that you defeated him mum, I'm happy to be here." James said.

**Somewhere under Cris' numb disbelief she felt a ripple of anger. Little girl? Madame Maxime had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handsome head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.**

**"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.**

**"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions – or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"**

"Oh he read the rules correctly, it's just whoever put her name in the goblet is trying to use the tournament to kill her." Sirius said. Lily whimpered and clung onto Prongs.

**He gave a short and nasty laugh.**

**"C'est impossible," said Madame Maxime, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."**

**"We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place, though his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."**

**"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. **

"Of course, you think Cris entered herself, didn't you?" Lily asked.

"I never did, I wanted to, sure, but I knew better than to outsmart Dumbledore." Cris said.

"You have a few times, but I knew you didn't put your name into the cup." Dumbledore said.

**His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. She has been crossing lines ever since she arrived here -" **

"Only to save people's lives, I don't see you doing that." Cris said with a glare. Snape sneered at her but didn't comment on it, because it was true.

**"Thank you, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair.**

**Professor Dumbledore was now looking down at Cris, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the eyes behind the half-moon spectacles.**

**"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire, Cris?" he asked calmly.**

**"No," said Cris. She was very aware of everybody watching her closely. Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief in the shadows.**

**"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" said Professor Dumbledore, ignoring Snape.**

**"No," said Cris vehemently.**

**"Ah, but of course she is lying!" cried Madame Maxime. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling. **

"Why would Cris lie, it never said anything about her putting her name in the Goblet." Lily said.

**"She could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that -"**

**"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.**

**"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely.**

"Though we saw evidence that it did work with the twins." Sirius said.

**"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what nonsense! Cris could not have crossed the line herself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that she did not persuade an older student to do it for her, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!"**

**She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape.**

**"Mr. Crouch… Mr. Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"**

"It is, but it is irreversible." Robin said.

**Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr. Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half-darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.**

**"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament." **

"Great," Lily said.

"Whoever is after her did do a pretty job thinking things through." Moony said.

"Don't say that," Lily said.

**"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.**

**"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff. He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue adding names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore." **

"I don't think that will work." Bill said.

"He is an idiot." Gwen said.

**"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament -"**

**"- in which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"**

**"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"**

"Very convenient," Padfoot said.

"What happens if you don't compete?" Gwen asked.

"They would lose their magic and in some cases die." Dumbledore said. Cris went wide eyed, thankful that she did compete.

"That's terrible." Gwen said.

**Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.**

**"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody." Cris could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.**

**"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing she'd have to compete if it came out."**

**"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.**

**"Or kill me?" suggested Cris out loud. The foreign headmasters seemed to have ignored her but the rest of the teachers acknowledged it and Cedric went a little stiff at it. **

"Don't think like that." Lily said.

"It's true though." Cris said.

"It still doesn't mean you should think it that though." Lily said.

**"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards -"**

**"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but… funny thing… I don't hear him saying a word…"**

**"Why should she complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. "She 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't she? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money - zis is a chance many would die for!" **

"I never wanted to do it for the fame or the money, just a chance to prove that I can do things and have them look past my fame, beside I didn't even keep the money." Cris said.

"Nicely said." Dumbledore said.

"What do you mean you didn't keep the money?" Ron asked eyebrows raised.

"It went to a better cause." Cris said grinning at the twins.

**"Maybe someone's hoping Potter is going to die for it, just like she pointed out moments ago" said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl.**

**An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man… what a thing to say!"**

**"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime," said Karkaroff loudly. **

"You should listen to him." Tonks said.

"Considering he was the one who put my name in." Cris muttered under her breath.

**"Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons."**

**"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the girl's name in that goblet…"**

**"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her huge hands.**

**"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament… I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category…" **

"It was a pretty well thought out plan." Cris said.

"Very well thought out." Prongs said.

**"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is - though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously…"**

**"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. "It's my job to think the way Dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to remember…" **

"That has its advantages." Gwen said.

"Isn't your dad an investigator?" Cris asked.

"He is," Gwen said.

**"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Cris wondered for a moment whom he was speaking to, but then realized "Mad-Eye" could hardly be Moody's real first name. **

"You actually thought that his name was Mad-Eye?" Ron asked. Cris blushed and looked away.

"What, it's possible. I mean there are some people strange names in the wizarding world." Cris said.

"True," Hermione said.

**Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction - Karkaroff's face was burning.**

**"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Cris have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do…"**

**"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr -"**

**"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."**

"There really isn't an alternative." Scarlett said.

**Dumbledore waited, but Madame Maxime did not speak, she merely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.**

"Well yeah, an unexpected turn of events brings four champions." Sirius said.

**"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honors?"**

**Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.**

**"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes… the first task…"**

"Whatever it is it will be dangerous." Lily said.

**He moved forward into the firelight. Close up, Cris thought he looked ill. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin that had not been there at the Quidditch World Cup.**

**"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Cris, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important.**

"Well Cris has that covered." Prongs said.

"Most definitely," Padfoot said.

**"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.**

**"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. **

"That doesn't mean that they can't give hints." Cris said with a smirk.

"Ooohhh, who gave you the hint? Was it McGonagall?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm not telling." Cris said with a smirk.

"You're mean." Padfoot said.

**The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests." **

"Nice," Prongs said.

**Mr. Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore.**

**"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"**

**"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"**

**"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry," said Mr. Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment… I've left young Weatherby in charge… Very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told…**

Percy blushed brightly and looked down into his lap.

**"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?" said Dumbledore.**

**"Come on, Barty, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"**

"Depending on the office at least. Mum used to bring James and I while Uncle Sirius brought in Keiran, Scarlett and Teddy. They couldn't get babysitters and mum was pregnant with Al, it was very interesting." Lily J said.

"How do you remember that?" Keiran asked.

"Teddy told me, besides Uncle Ron and Uncle Draco told me." Lily J smirked.

"What did you guys do?" Tonks asked.

"Absolutely nothing." Keiran and Teddy said.

"Why is it that I don't believe that?" Tonks asked.

"Because we are children of marauders." Teddy said simply.

**"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.**

**"Professor Karkaroff - Madame Maxime - a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.**

**But Madame Maxime had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. Cris could hear them both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.**

**"Cris, Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at both of them. "I am sure Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a shame to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of mess and noise." **

"Of course, our parties are pretty great." Bill said.

"And loud." Charlie said.

"That they are." Tonks said with a smile.

**Cris and Cedric walked out of the room, they were silent for a while before Cedric spoke up. **

"**I know you didn't enter, I'll help you as best as I can." Cedric said.**

"**Thank you, it's crazy it just seems that everything happens to me." She said. **

"**It does seem that way doesn't it." Cedric said. They continued walking until they were at the marble staircase. **

"**Do you still want to go to Hogsmeade together?" Cris asked. **

"**Yeah, I have something planned, I just hope you like it." He said with a smile. Cris smiled back and he hugged her good night. Cris didn't know what to think, she never really been hugged by a guy before, well there was Ron, but it wasn't the same.**

"That's sweet of him." Lily said.

"Mr. Diggory was a Hufflepuff through and through." McGonagall said with a sad smile.

"I did not know zat ze two of oo went out." Fleur said.

"It was just a short time. But we were good friends." Cris said.

**When Cedric walked to the door to her right and waved good-bye, a thought came through, would Ron and Hermione believe that she didn't enter,**

"You did right?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Hermione said.

**or would they all think she'd put herself in for the tournament? Yet how could anyone think that, when she was facing competitors who'd had three years' more magical education than she had - when she was now facing tasks that not only sounded very dangerous, but which were to be performed in front of hundreds of people? Yes, she'd thought about it… she'd fantasized about it… but it had been a joke, really, an idle sort of dream… she'd never really, seriously considered entering..**

**But someone else had considered it… someone else had wanted her in the tournament, and had made sure she was entered. Why? To give her a treat? She didn't think so, somehow… To see her make a fool of herself? Well, they were likely to get their wish… But to get her killed? Was Moody just being his usual paranoid self? Couldn't someone have put Cris' name in the goblet as a trick, a practical joke? Did anyone really want her dead?**

"Of course, Voldemort always wants me dead." Cris said. Lily whimpered and Prongs went pale.

**Cris was able to answer that at once. Yes, someone wanted her dead; someone had wanted her dead ever since she had been a year old…Lord Voldemort.**

**But how could Voldemort have ensured that Cris' name got into the Goblet of Fire? Voldemort was supposed to be far away, in some distant country, in hiding, alone… feeble and powerless… **

"Not as powerless as you think." Cris muttered.

"It's okay Bambi, don't think about it." Fred said.

"Think happy thoughts." George said. Cris smiled and giggled.

**Yet in that dream he had had, just before she had awoken with her scar hurting, Voldemort had not been alone… he had been talking to Wormtail… plotting Cris' murder. Cris got a shock to find herself facing the Fat Lady already. She had barely noticed where her feet were carrying her. It was also a surprise to see that she was not alone in her frame. The wizened witch who had flitted into her neighbor's painting when she had joined the champions downstairs was now sitting smugly beside the Fat Lady. She must have dashed through every picture lining seven staircases to reach here before her. Both she and the Fat Lady were looking down at her with the keenest interest.**

**"Well, well, well," said the Fat Lady, "Violet's just told me everything. Who's just been chosen as school champion, then?"**

**"Balderdash," said Cris dully.**

**"It most certainly isn't!" said the pale witch indignantly.**

"She has always been an interesting portrait." Sirius said.

**"No, no, Vi, it's the password," said the Fat Lady soothingly, and she swung forward on her hinges to let Cris into the common room.**

**The blast of noise that met Cris' ears when the portrait opened almost knocked her backward. Next thing she knew, she was being wrenched inside the common room by about a dozen pairs of hands, and was facing the whole of Gryffindor House, all of whom were screaming, applauding, and whistling.**

"They're all excited." Tonks said.

"Who wouldn't be?" Charlie asked.

"True," Tonks said.

**"You should've told us you'd entered!" bellowed Fred; he looked half annoyed, half deeply impressed.**

"Sorry Bambi," Fred said.

"It's alright," Cris said kissing his cheek.

**"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George.**

"Sorry," George said.

"Don't apologize, you had no idea." Cris said.

**"I didn't," Cris said. "I don't know how -"**

**But Angelina had now swooped down upon her; "Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor -" **

"But what about Cedric?" Gwen asked.

"They only cared about how I somehow got entered." Cris said.

"Sorry," Ginny and Neville said.

**"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Cris!" shrieked Katie Bell, another of the Gryffindor Chasers.**

**"We've got food, Cris, come and have some -"**

**"I'm not hungry; I had enough at the feast -"**

"Nice try but I don't think you'll be able to escape." Padfoot said.

"It was worth a shot." Cris said with a shrug.

**But nobody wanted to hear that she wasn't hungry; nobody wanted to hear that she hadn't put her name in the goblet; not one single person seemed to have noticed that she wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate… Lee Jordan had unearthed a Gryffindor banner from somewhere, and he insisted on draping it around Cris like a cloak. Cris couldn't get away; whenever she tried to sidle over to the staircase up to the dormitories, the crowd around her closed ranks, forcing another butterbeer on her, stuffing crisps and peanuts into her hands… Everyone wanted to know how she had done it, how she had tricked Dumbledore's Age Line and managed to get her name into the goblet…**

**"I didn't," she said, over and over again, "I don't know how it happened."**

**But for all the notice anyone took, she might just as well not have answered at all.**

**"I'm tired!" she bellowed finally, after nearly half an hour. "No, seriously, George - I'm going to bed -" **

"Good grief, let the poor girl go." Tonks said.

"I felt like a prisoner, and I was still digesting the fact that I was in the Tournament." Cris said.

"I can understand that." Tonks said with a smile.

**She wanted more than anything to find Ron and Hermione, to find a bit of sanity, but neither of them seemed to be in the common room. Insisting that she needed to sleep, and almost flattening the little Creevey brothers as they attempted to waylay her at the foot of the stairs, Cris managed to shake everyone off and climb up to the dormitory as fast as he could.**

**To her great relief, she found Ron was lying on his bed in the otherwise empty dormitory, still fully dressed. **

**He looked up when Cris slammed the door behind him.**

**"Where've you been?" Cris said.**

**"Oh hello," said Ron.**

"Really? Is that all you have to say?" Lily asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Our friendship was really put to the test." Cris said.

"What friendship hasn't?" Prongs asked. Cris smiled but Ron wasn't looking at anyone, he really did act like a jerk.

**He was grinning, but it was a very odd, strained sort of grin. Cris suddenly became aware that she was still wearing the scarlet Gryffindor banner that Lee had tied around her. She hastened to take it off, but it was knotted very tightly. Ron lay on the bed without moving, watching Cris struggle to remove it.**

**"So," he said, when Cris had finally removed the banner and thrown it into a corner. "Congratulations."**

**"What d'you mean, congratulations?" said Cris, staring at Ron. There was definitely something wrong with the way Ron was smiling: It was more like a grimace. **

"What the hell Ron!" Bill exclaimed.

"I know, I acted like a git." Ron said.

"Good cause otherwise I would hex you so bad you wouldn't know what to do." Bill said. Ron gulped and Remus continued reading remembering the time with Sirius and Severus.

**"Well… no one else got across the Age Line," said Ron. "Not even Fred and George. What did you use - the Invisibility Cloak?"**

"It wouldn't work." Prongs said.

**"The Invisibility Cloak wouldn't have got me over that line," said Cris slowly.**

**"Oh right," said Ron. "I thought you might've told me if it was the cloak… because it would've covered both of us, wouldn't it? But you found another way, did you?" **

"Seriously, you didn't let her have a chance to explain when she needed you the most?" Prongs asked.

"It's forgiven between us," Cris said.

"Well, at least there's that." Prongs said.

**"Listen," said Cris, "I didn't put my name in that goblet. Someone else must've done it."**

**Ron raised his eyebrows.**

**"What would they do that for?"**

**"I dunno," said Cris. She felt it would sound very melodramatic to say, "To kill me." **

"That might have helped, I didn't think about that." Ron said.

"It's alright," Cris said.

**Ron's eyebrows rose so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.**

"I haven't seen that happen." Charlie said.

"You don't want to." Cris said.

**"It's okay, you know, you can tell me the truth," he said. "If you don't want everyone else to know, fine, but I don't know why you're bothering to lie, you didn't get into trouble for it, did you? That friend of the Fat Lady's, that Violet, she's already told us all Dumbledore's letting you enter. A thousand Galleons prize money, eh? And you don't have to do end-of-year tests either…"**

**"I didn't put my name in that goblet!" said Cris, starting to feel angry.**

**"Yeah, okay," said Ron, in exactly the same skeptical tone as the foreign headmasters. "Only you said this morning you'd have done it last night, and no one would've seen you… I'm not stupid, you know." **

"You are right now." Bill said.

"I know," Ron said.

**"You're doing a really good impression of it," Cris snapped.**

**"Yeah?" said Ron, and there was no trace of a grin, forced or otherwise, on his face now. "You want to get to bed, Cris. I expect you'll need to be up early tomorrow for a photo-call or something." **

"Really Ron, who knew you could be such a git." Gwen said.

"I know, I was stupid, I should have believed her." Ron said.

**He wrenched the hangings shut around his four-poster, leaving Cris standing there by the door, staring at the dark red velvet curtains, now hiding one of the few people she had been sure would believe her. **

"Well at least Hermione and Cedric believe you, they can help." Lily said.

"Ron does come around though, right?" Prongs asked.

"Eventually," Ron and Cris said.

"Good," Prongs said.

"That's the chapter." Remus said handing the book to Lily J.


	21. Chapter 18: The Weighing of Wands

"**Chapter 18: The Weighing of Wands," **Lily J read.

"So someone is going to be checking your wands to make sure that they are good to go?" Padfoot asked.

"Yep," Cris said.

"I wonder who." Prongs said.

"Possibly Ollivander," Moony said.

"Maybe," Lily said.

**When Cris woke up on Sunday morning, it took her a moment to remember why she felt so miserable and worried. Then the memory of the previous night rolled over him. She sat up and ripped back the curtains of her own four-poster, intending to talk to Ron, to force Ron to believe her - only to find that Ron's bed was empty; he had obviously gone down to breakfast.**

**Cris dressed and went down the spiral staircase into the common room. The moment she appeared, the people who had already finished breakfast broke into applause again. The prospect of going down into the Great Hall and facing the rest of the Gryffindors, all treating her like some sort of hero, was not inviting; it was that, however, or stay here and allow herself to be cornered by the Creevey brothers, who were both beckoning frantically to her to join them. She walked resolutely over to the portrait hole, pushed it open, climbed out of it, and found himself face-to-face with Hermione.**

"Do you believe her?" Lily asked.

"Of course, it was the look on her face that got me when her name was called." Hermione said.

"Good," Prongs said.

**"****Hello," she said, holding up a stack of toast, which she was carrying in a napkin. "I brought you this… Want to go for a walk?"**

"Good, you really are a good friend." Lily said with a smile.

"I don't think I would have lasted with just the help of Cedric." Cris said.

"No, I think you would have been fine." Sirius said.

"I did have a lot of help." Cris said.

**"****Good idea," said Cris gratefully.**

**They went downstairs, crossed the entrance hall quickly without looking in at the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water. It was a chilly morning, and they kept moving, munching their toast, as Cris told Hermione exactly what had happened after she had left the Gryffindor table the night before.**

**To her immense relief, Hermione accepted her story without question.**

"I should have listened." Ron said.

"You did once you realized that I didn't put my name in." Cris said with a smile.

**"****Well, of course I knew you hadn't entered yourself," she said when he'd finished telling her about the scene in the chamber off the Hall. "The look on your face when Dumbledore read out your name! But the question is, who did put it in? Because Moody's right, Cris… I don't think any student could have done it… they'd never be able to fool the Goblet, or get over Dumbledore's -"**

"I don't think she wants to talk about that now." Lily said.

"She didn't," Hermione said laughing.

**"****Have you seen Ron?" Cris interrupted.**

**Hermione hesitated.**

**"****Erm… yes… he was at breakfast," she said.**

**"****Does he still think I entered myself?"**

**"****Well… no, I don't think so… not really," said Hermione awkwardly.**

"Mia, you know I didn't believe her." Ron said.

"I was just trying to calm her down." Hermione said.

**"****What's that supposed to mean, 'not really'?"**

**"****Oh Cris, isn't it obvious?" Hermione said despairingly. "He's jealous!"**

Ron blushed and looked down.

**"****Jealous?" Cris said incredulously. "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"**

**"****Look," said Hermione patiently, "it's always you who gets all the attention, you know it is. **

"And I hate it!" Cris exclaimed.

"We know," the group said.

**I know it's not your fault," she added quickly, seeing Cris open her mouth furiously. "I know you don't ask for it… but - well - you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous - he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this is just one time too many…"**

**"****Great," said Cris bitterly. "Really great. Tell him from me I'll swap any time he wants. Tell him from me he's welcome to it… People gawping at my forehead everywhere I go…" **

"I don't think I could handle that." Ron said.

"I barely can sometimes." Cris said with a grimace thinking of the press that year and this year.

**"****I'm not telling him anything," Hermione said shortly. "Tell him yourself. It's the only way to sort this out."**

"I did try," Cris mumbled.

"It's because Ron's too stubborn, but he'll come around." Tonks said.

"He is stubborn," Hermione said.

**"****I'm not running around after him trying to make him grow up!" Cris said, so loudly that several owls in a nearby tree took flight in alarm. "Maybe he'll believe I'm not enjoying myself once I've got my neck broken or -"**

**"****That's not funny," said Hermione quietly. "That's not funny at all." She looked extremely anxious. "Cris, I've been thinking - you know what we've got to do, don't you? Straight away, the moment we get back to the castle?"**

**"****Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the -"**

"What were you going to say?" Lily asked. Cris blushed and looked away from Ron.

"You were going to kick him there weren't you?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, I was tempted." Cris said. Ron whimpered and covered himself.

"That's my girl." Lily said with a smile.

"Remind me to never get her mad again." Ron said to Hermione.

"I'll try," Hermione said with a giggle. They missed the looks from the future kids.

**"****Write to Sirius. You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts… It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen.**

"I kind of did, the tournament was a good way for someone to kill Cris." Sirius said.

"Don't say that," Lily said with a whimper.

**I brought some parchment and a quill out with me -"**

**"****Come off it," said Cris, looking around to check that they couldn't be overheard, but the grounds were quite deserted. "He came back to the country just because my scar twinged. He'll probably come bursting right into the castle if I tell him someone's entered me in the Triwizard Tournament -" **

"Contrary to popular belief I do have more sense than that." Sirius said.

"Really? Do I have to point out all the things that you've done?" Remus asked.

"No, not really." Sirius said.

"Ah, but I really want to know." Cris whined.

"I'll tell you sometime." Remus said. Cris smiled widely and Lily J continued reading.

**"****He'd want you to tell him," said Hermione sternly. "He's going to find out anyway."**

**"****How?"**

"The Prophet." The group said.

"I know, I just didn't register that fact." Cris said.

"It's alright," Remus said with a smile.

**"****Cris, this isn't going to be kept quiet," said Hermione, very seriously. "This tournament's famous, and you're famous. I'll be really surprised if there isn't anything in the Daily Prophet about you competing… You're already in half the books about You-Know-Who, you know… and Sirius would rather hear it from you, I know he would."**

"Yes, I would rather have gotten the truth rather than the lie." Sirius said.

"It's a good thing that she talked me into it then." Cris said.

"Thanks Hermione," Sirius said with a smile.

**"****Okay, okay, I'll write to him," said Cris, throwing her last piece of toast into the lake. They both stood and watched it floating there for a moment, before a large tentacle rose out of the water and scooped it beneath the surface. Then they returned to the castle.**

**"****Whose owl am I going to use?" Cris said as they climbed the stairs. "He told me not to use Hedwig again."**

**"****Ask Ron if you can borrow -"**

**"****I'm not asking Ron for anything," Cris said flatly.**

**"****Well, borrow one of the school owls, then, anyone can use them," said Hermione.**

**They went up to the Owlery. Hermione gave Cris a piece of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink, then strolled around the long lines of perches, looking at all the different owls, while Cris sat down against a wall and wrote her letter.**

_**Dear Sirius,**_

_**You told me to keep you posted on what's happening at Hogwarts, so here goes – I don't know if you've heard, but the Triwizard Tournament's happening this year and on Saturday night I got picked as a fourth champion. I don't who put my name in the Goblet of Fire, because I didn't. The other Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory, from Hufflepuff. **_

**She paused at this point, thinking. She had an urge to say something about the large weight of anxiety that seemed to have settled inside her chest since last night, but she couldn't think how to translate this into words, so she simply dipped her quill back into the ink bottle and wrote,**

_**Hope you're okay, and Buckbeak –**_

_**Cris**_

**"****Finished," she told Hermione, getting to her feet and brushing straw off her robes. At this, Hedwig fluttered down onto her shoulder and held out her leg.**

**"****I can't use you," Cris told her, looking around for the school owls. "I've got to use one of these."**

"She is not going to like that." Charlie said.

"No, and it just made me feel worse." Cris said.

"I'm sorry," Ron said.

"It's alright, it's forgiven." Cris said with a smile.

**Hedwig gave a very loud hoot and took off so suddenly that her talons cut into her shoulder. She kept her back to Cris all the time she was tying her letter to the leg of a large barn owl. When the barn owl had flown off, Cris reached out to stroke Hedwig, but she clicked her beak furiously and soared up into the rafters out of reach. **

"I don't think I've ever seen an owl vith a temper like that." Viktor said.

"She is pretty special." Cris said with a fond smile.

**"First Ron, then you," Cris said angrily. "This isn't my fault."**

**If Cris had thought that matters would improve once everyone got used to the idea of her being champion, the following day showed her how mistaken she was. She could no longer avoid the rest of the school once she was back at lessons - and it was clear that the rest of the school, just like the Gryffindors, thought Cris had entered herself for the tournament. Unlike the Gryffindors, however, they did not seem impressed.**

**The Hufflepuffs, who were usually on excellent terms with the Gryffindors, had turned remarkably cold toward the whole lot of them. One Herbology lesson was enough to demonstrate this. It was plain that the Hufflepuffs felt that Cris had stolen their champion's glory; a feeling exacerbated, perhaps, by the fact that Hufflepuff House very rarely got any glory, **

"I can't believe that happened." Tonks said.

"Maybe it would have helped if Cedric convinced them, but he couldn't." Cris said.

**and that Cedric was one of the few who had ever given them any, having beaten Gryffindor once at Quidditch. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch Fletchley, with whom Cris normally got on very well, did not talk to her even though they were repotting Bouncing Bulbs at the same tray - though they did laugh rather unpleasantly when one of the Bouncing Bulbs wriggled free from Cris' grip and smacked her hard in the face. Ron wasn't talking to Cris either. Hermione sat between them, making very forced conversation, but though both answered her normally, they avoided making eye contact with each other. **

**Cris thought even Professor Sprout seemed distant with her - but then, she was Head of Hufflepuff House.**

"Can this part be over with already?" Lily asked.

"It will after the first task." Cris said.

**She would have been looking forward to seeing Hagrid under normal circumstances, but Care of Magical Creatures meant seeing the Slytherins too – the first time she would come face-to-face with them since becoming champion.**

**Predictably, Malfoy arrived at Hagrid's cabin with his familiar sneer firmly in place. **

"I had believed it," Draco said.

"It's alright; I would have wanted to if I was old enough but then again it wouldn't have done any good either." Cris said.

**"Ah, look, boys, it's the champion," he said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment he got within earshot of Cris. "Got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt she's going to be around much longer… Half the Triwizard champions have died… how long d'you reckon you're going to last, Potter? Ten minutes into the first task's my bet."**

"Then you would have lost it." Cris said.

"You surprised us all with that one." Charlie said.

"What did you do?" Prongs asked.

"Let's just say if I was against Viktor I would have won in a race." Cris said.

"That makes no sense." Padfoot said.

**Crabbe and Goyle guffawed sycophantically, but Malfoy had to stop there, because Hagrid emerged from the back of his cabin balancing a teetering tower of crates, each containing a very large Blast-Ended Skrewt.**

"Great, when is this project over with?" Lily asked.

"At the end of the year." The trio, Neville and Draco said.

"And with a lot of burns." Ron said.

"I bet," Tonks said.

**To the class's horror, Hagrid proceeded to explain that the reason the skrewts had been killing one another was an excess of pent-up energy, and that the solution would be for each student to fix a leash on a skrewt and take it for a short walk.**

"This is not going to end well." Prongs said.

"No kidding," Lily said.

**The only good thing about this plan was that it distracted Malfoy completely.**

"Who wouldn't be, those things were dangerous, though not as dangerous as some of the other things Hagrid's had." Draco said.

"True," Cris said.

**"Take this thing for a walk?" he repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes. "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end, or the sucker?"**

"Around the middle." Luna suggested.

"It does seem like an obvious place." Gwen said nodding in agreement.

**"Roun' the middle," said Hagrid, demonstrating. "Er - yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like. Cris - you come here an' help me with this big one…**

**Hagrid's real intention, however, was to talk to Cris away from the rest of the class. He waited until everyone else had set off with their skrewts, then turned to Cris and said, very seriously, "So - yer competin', Cris. In the tournament. School champion."**

"One of them," Gwen said.

**"One of the champions," Cris corrected him.**

**Hagrid's beetle-black eyes looked very anxious under his wild eyebrows.**

**"No idea who put yeh in fer it, Cris?"**

**"You believe I didn't do it, then?" said Cris, concealing with difficulty the rush of gratitude he felt at Hagrid's words.**

**"Course I do," Hagrid grunted. "Yeh say it wasn' you, an' I believe yeh - an' Dumbledore believes yer, an' all." **

"At least Hagrid's on your side." Lily said.

"Of course he will, Hagrid's a good guy like that." Prongs said.

**"Wish I knew who did do it," said Cris bitterly.**

**The pair of them looked out over the lawn; the class was widely scattered now, and all in great difficulty. The skrewts were now over three feet long, and extremely powerful. No longer shell-less and colorless, they had developed a kind of thick, grayish, shiny armor. They looked like a cross between giant scorpions and elongated crabs - but still without recognizable heads or eyes. They had become immensely strong and very hard to control. **

"We really should have watched what Hagrid was doing a little bit better." Dumbledore said. He looked over to where the Minister and the Undersecretary were sitting to see them writing something down on a pad of paper.

"**Look like they're havin' fun, don' they?" Hagrid said happily. Cris assumed he was talking about the skrewts, because her classmates certainly weren't; every now and then, with an alarming bang, one of the skrewts' ends would explode, causing it to shoot forward several yards, and more than one person was being dragged along on their stomach, trying desperately to get back on their feet.**

"That kind of sounds like fun but at the same time not fun." Gwen said.

"Only you," Cris said with a laugh.

**"Ah, I don' know, Cris," Hagrid sighed suddenly, looking back down at her with a worried expression on his face. "School champion… everythin' seems ter happen ter you, doesn' it?"**

"That is certainly true." Lily said looking worriedly at her daughter.

"It's not my fault." Cris said crossing her arms.

"We know, you just do a good job of handling it." Tonks said.

"Thanks," Cris said with a blush.

**Cris didn't answer. Yes, everything did seem to happen to her… that was more or less what Hermione had said as they had walked around the lake, and that was the reason, according to her, that Ron was no longer talking to her. The next few days were some of Cris' worst at Hogwarts. The closest she had ever come to feeling like this had been during those months, in her second year, when a large part of the school had suspected her of attacking her fellow students. But Ron had been on her side then. She thought she could have coped with the rest of the school's behavior if she could just have had Ron back as a friend, but she wasn't going to try and persuade Ron to talk to her if Ron didn't want to. Nevertheless, it was lonely with dislike pouring in on her from all sides.**

"How many people believed you?" Lily asked.

"Very few." Cris said.

"That's really bad," Prongs said looking over at his daughter who was nestled between the twins.

"It got better as the year past." Cris said with a smile.

**She could understand the Hufflepuffs' attitude, even if she didn't like it; they had their own champion to support. She expected nothing less than vicious insults from the Slytherins - she was highly unpopular there and always had been, because she had helped Gryffindor beat them so often, both at Quidditch and in the Inter-House Championship. But she had hoped the Ravenclaws might have found it in their hearts to support her as much as Cedric. She was wrong, however. Most Ravenclaws seemed to think that she had been desperate to earn herself a bit more fame by tricking the goblet into accepting her name.**

**Then there was the fact that Cedric looked the part of a champion so much more than she did. Exceptionally handsome, with his straight nose, dark hair, and gray eyes, it was hard to say who was receiving more admiration these days, Cedric or Viktor Krum. **

**Cris actually saw the same sixth-year girls who had been so keen to get Krum's autograph begging Cedric to sign their school bags one lunchtime. The sight of that made her a bit jealous. Cedric looked up and saw her and gave her a smile which made her blush slightly and look away.**

"Your very pretty Cris, don't let anyone tell you any different." Tonks said. Cris smiled a slight blush forming on her cheeks but didn't say anything else.

**Meanwhile there was no reply from Sirius, Hedwig was refusing to come anywhere near her, Professor Trelawney was predicting her death with even more certainty than usual, and she did so badly at Summoning Charms in Professor Flitwick's class that she was given extra homework - **

"But you usually do really well." McGonagall said.

"I was stressed; what with everything going on my mind was thinking on other things." Cris said.

"That is very understandable." Sirius said with a smile.

**the only person to get any, apart from Neville.**

"You are doing very well with the help I've been giving you." Cris said.

"Thanks," Neville said with a smile.

**"It's really not that difficult, Cris," Hermione tried to reassure her as they left Flitwick's class - she had been making objects zoom across the room to her all lesson, as though she were some sort of weird magnet for board dusters, wastepaper baskets, and lunascopes. "You just weren't concentrating properly -"**

**"Wonder why that was," said Cris darkly as Cedric Diggory walked past, surrounded by a large group of simpering girls, all of whom looked at Cris as though she were a particularly large Blast-Ended Skrewt. "Still - never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon..." **

"Not if you're not in Slytherin." Bill said.

"No kidding," Cris said remembering what happened that day.

**Double Potions was always a horrible experience, but these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to punish Cris as much as possible for daring to become school champion, was about the most unpleasant thing Cris could imagine. She had already struggled through one Friday's worth, with Hermione sitting next to her intoning "ignore them, ignore them, ignore them" under her breath, and she couldn't see why today should be any better.**

**When she and Hermione arrived at Snape's dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. For one wild moment Cris thought they were S.P.E.W. badges **

"You thought that?" Hermione asked with a smirk.

"What was I supposed to think? I had no idea that that idiot had done badges as well." Cris said motioning at Draco.

"True," Hermione said.

**then she saw that they all bore the same message, in luminous red letters that burnt brightly in the dimly lit underground passage:**

**SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY—THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!**

**"Like them, Potter?" said Malfoy loudly as Cris approached. "And this isn't all they do - look!"**

**He pressed his badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, to be replaced by another one, which glowed green: POTTER STINKS!**

"Potter's don't stink!" said the Potter's in the room.

"They can when they're babies." Sirius said.

"Only because handed Cris to you to change because he did want to and you had to change it." Robin said. Cris went red as the group laughed.

"It wasn't funny; she had a rash and diarrhea." Sirius said. Cris went redder and the group laughed louder.

**The Slytherins howled with laughter. Each of them pressed their badges too, until the message POTTER STINKS was shining brightly all around Cris. She felt the heat rise in her face and neck.**

**"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty."**

**Ron was standing against the wall with Dean and Seamus. He wasn't laughing, but he wasn't sticking up for Cris either.**

"I really wanted to but I was still mad at the same time." Ron said.

"So you couldn't have directed that at the Slytherins?" Sirius asked.

"I didn't think about that." Ron said.

**"Want one, Granger?" said Malfoy, holding out a badge to Hermione. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."**

**Some of the anger Cris had been feeling for days and days seemed to burst through a dam in her chest. She had reached for her wand before she'd thought what she was doing. People all around them scrambled out of the way, backing down the corridor.**

**"Cris!" Hermione said warningly.**

**"Go on, then, Potter," Malfoy said quietly, drawing out his own wand. "Moody's not here to look after you now- do it, if you've got the guts-" **

"She's got it alright, but that could really get her into trouble." Tonks said.

**For a split second, they looked into each other's eyes, then, at exactly the same time, both acted.**

**"Funnunculus!" Cris yelled.**

**"Densaugeo!" screamed Malfoy.**

**Jets of light shot from both wands, hit each other in midair, and ricocheted off at angles — Cris' hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's hit Hermione. **

People winced but Gwen was confused.

"They weren't dangerous spells were they?" she asked.

"No," Cris said.

**Goyle bellowed and put his hands to his nose, where great ugly boils were springing up - Hermione, whimpering in panic, was clutching her mouth.**

**"Hermione!"**

**Ron had hurried forward to see what was wrong with her; Cris turned and saw Ron dragging Hermione's hand away from her face. It wasn't a pretty sight. Hermione's front teeth - already larger than average - **

Hermione turned to glare at her friend who grinned sheepishly back at her.

"Don't look at me, I didn't write this." Cris said.

"I know, it's just fun teasing you." Hermione said.

**were now growing at an alarming rate; she was looking more and more like a beaver as her teeth elongated, past her bottom lip, toward her chin - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.**

"You're okay now, in fact, your teeth look absolutely normal." Lily said.

"I kind of let Madame Pomfrey over shrink them until they were normal." Hermione said.

"Were you're parents mad?" Gwen asked.

"A little at first but they got over it." Hermione said.

**"And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.**

**Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give their explanations; Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."**

**"Potter attacked me, sir -"**

**"We attacked each other at the same time!" Cris shouted.**

"He won't listen." Bill said shaking his head in disgust. Dumbledore looked over to Snape and he wasn't looking at the headmaster. 'Severus, you should really learn to let things go.' Dumbledore thought.

**"- and he hit Goyle - look -"**

**Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.**

**"Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.**

**"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"**

**He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best to hide them with her hands, though this was difficult as they had now grown down past her collar. Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at Hermione from behind Snape's back.**

**Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."**

"Really Severus! That was uncalled for!" McGonagall screeched. Snape leaned away from her slightly but didn't do anything else.

**Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears, she turned on her heel and ran, ran all the way up the corridor and out of sight.**

**It was lucky, perhaps, that both Cris and Ron started shouting at Snape at the same time; lucky their voices echoed so much in the stone corridor, for in the confused din, it was impossible for her to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.**

"So did you two make up?" Lily asked.

"No, we were just protecting our friend." Ron said.

"Well at least you can work still work together." Prongs said.

**"Let's see," he said, in his silkiest voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."**

"Mr. Malfoy should have gotten detention as well." McGonagall said glaring at her colleague.

**Cris' ears were ringing. The injustice of it made her want to curse Snape into a thousand slimy pieces. She passed Snape, walked with Ron to the back of the dungeon, and slammed her bag down onto the table. Ron was shaking with anger too - for a moment, it felt as though everything was back to normal between them, but then Ron turned and sat down with Dean and Seamus instead, leaving Cris alone at her table. On the other side of the dungeon, Malfoy turned his back on Snape and pressed his badge, smirking. POTTER STINKS flashed once more across the room. Cris sat there staring at Snape as the lesson began, picturing horrific things happening to him… If only she knew how to do the Cruciatus Curse… she'd have Snape flat on his back like that spider, jerking and twitching. **

People's eyes widened and looked at Cris.

"_Cristal Rose Potter!_" the adults and her parents shouted.

"I'm sorry, I was very angry and I wasn't thinking clearly." Cris said.

"I understand but please refrain from thinking that way." Lily said.

"I'll try." Cris said with a small smile.

**"Antidotes!" said Snape, looking around at them all, his cold black eyes glittering unpleasantly. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we will be selecting someone on whom to test one…"**

"That can be very dangerous Severus." McGonagall said.

"I would have cured them if it didn't work." Snape said.

"I sure hope so." McGonagall said.

**Snape's eyes met Cris', and Cris knew what was coming. Snape was going to poison her. Cris imagined picking up her cauldron, and sprinting to the front of the class, and bringing it down on Snape's greasy head - **

"I'm sorry; I can't help what I think." Cris said.

"It's okay, we've all thought that way." Charlie said.

"Yes, but you're thoughts aren't being read aloud." Cris said.

"Point taken," Charlie conceded.

**And then a knock on the dungeon door burst in on Cris' thoughts.**

**It was Colin Creevey; he edged into the room, beaming at Cris, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.**

**"Yes?" said Snape curtly.**

**"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Cristal Potter upstairs." Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin, whose smile faded from his eager face.**

**"Potter has another hour of Potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "She will come upstairs when this class is finished."**

**Colin went pink.**

**"Sir - sir, Mr. Bagman wants her," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"**

"Great, just what you need." Lily said.

"I really wanted to skip it." Cris said.

"I understand that," Lily said.

**Cris would have given anything she owned to have stopped Colin saying those last few words. She chanced half a glance at Ron, but Ron was staring determinedly at the ceiling.**

**"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."**

**"Please, sir - she's got to take her things with her," squeaked Colin. "All the champions…"**

"This isn't going to bode well." Tonks said.

"No kidding," Cris said.

**"Very well!" said Snape. "Potter - take your bag and get out of my sight!"**

**Cris swung her bag over her shoulder, got up, and headed for the door. As she walked through the Slytherin desks, POTTER STINKS flashed at her from every direction.**

**"It's amazing, isn't it, Cris?" said Colin, starting to speak the moment Cris had closed the dungeon door behind her. "Isn't it, though? You being champion?"**

**"Yeah, really amazing," said Cris heavily as they set off toward the steps into the entrance hall. "What do they want photos for, Colin?"**

**"The Daily Prophet, I think!"**

"That's not going to be fun, especially with that woman." Bill said.

"Did you get to read anything that was written?" Charlie asked.

"I tried to avoid it." Bill said.

"Good, it was all rubbish." Charlie said.

**"Great," said Cris dully. "Exactly what I need. More publicity."**

**"Good luck!" said Colin when they had reached the right room. Cris knocked on the door and entered.**

**She was in a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Five chairs had been set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a witch Cris had never seen before, who was wearing magenta robes.**

"Rita Skeeter." The group said.

"Oh yeah the girl a few years ahead of us. She was always trying to get stories on our pranks." Prongs said.

"She isn't a very good reporter then." Gwen said.

"No not really, she tends to report rumors rather than fact." Hermione said.

**Viktor Krum was standing moodily in a corner as usual and not talking to anybody. Cedric and Fleur were in conversation. Fleur looked a good deal happier than Cris had seen her so far; she kept throwing back her head so that her long silvery hair caught the light. Cris felt a little bubble of jealous at the sight of the two of them.**

"I'm sorry, I did not know zat ze two of you were togezer." Fleur said.

"It's okay; we didn't really announce it to the world." Cris said.

"But I'm sure that Skeeter would try and report it to the world." Moony said.

**A paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly, was watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye.**

**Bagman suddenly spotted Cris, got up quickly, and bounded forward.**

**"Ah, here she is! Champion number four! In you come, Cris, in you come… nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment -"**

**"Wand weighing?" Cris repeated nervously.**

"It's nothing to worry about; they are just making sure your wands are in good shape." Sirius said.

"I know that now, I just didn't know that then." Cris said.

**"We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they're your most important tools in the tasks ahead," said Bagman. "The expert's upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there's going to be a little photo-shoot. This is Rita Skeeter," he added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes. "She's doing a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet…"**

"Knowing her, it won't be small." Robin said.

"It wasn't." Hermione said.

**"Maybe not that small, Ludo," said Rita Skeeter, her eyes on Cris.**

"And now it's going to be all about you." Lily said.

"Sadly," Cris said.

**Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jeweled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson.**

**"I wonder if I could have a little word with Cristal before we start?" she said to Bagman, but still gazing fixedly at Cris. "The youngest champion, you know… to add a bit of color?"**

**"Certainly!" cried Bagman. "That is - if Cristal has no objection?"**

**"Er -" said Cris. **

"That should be considered as an objection." Gwen said.

"Yeah," Cris said.

**"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter, and in a second, her scarlet-taloned fingers had Cris' upper arm in a surprisingly strong grip, and she was steering him out of the room again and opening a nearby door.**

**"We don't want to be in there with all that noise," she said. "Let's see… ah, yes, this is nice and cozy."**

**It was a broom cupboard. Cris stared at her.**

"I did not want to go in there." Cris said.

"I can understand that, she was totally out of her mind with that." Remus said.

**"Come along, dear - that's right - lovely," said Rita Skeeter again, perching herself precariously upon an upturned bucket, pushing Cris down onto a cardboard box, and closing the door, throwing them into darkness. "Let's see now…"**

**She unsnapped her crocodile-skin handbag and pulled out a handful of candles, which she lit with a wave of her wand and magicked into midair, so that they could see what they were doing.**

**"You won't mind, Cristal, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally…" **

"That's not going to end well." Charlie said.

"We know," Sirius said.

**"A what?" said Cris.**

**Rita Skeeter's smile widened. Cris counted three gold teeth. She reached again into her crocodile bag and drew out a long acid-green quill and a roll of parchment, which she stretched out between them on a crate of Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover. She put the tip of the green quill into her mouth, sucked it for a moment with apparent relish, then placed it upright on the parchment, where it stood balanced on its point, quivering slightly.**

**"Testing… my name is Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter."**

**Cris looked down quickly at the quill. The moment Rita Skeeter had spoken; the green quill had started to scribble, skidding across the parchment:**

**Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, who's savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations – **

"Good grief, that quill is no good." Robin said.

"Now we know why her work is so outrageous." Tonks said.

"That should be considered illegal." Gwen said.

**"Lovely," said Rita Skeeter, yet again, and she ripped the top piece of parchment off, crumpled it up, and stuffed it into her handbag. Now she leaned toward Cris and said, "So, Cristal… what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?"**

**"Er -" said Cris again, but she was distracted by the quill. Even though she wasn't speaking, it was dashing across the parchment, and in its wake she could make out a fresh sentence:**

**An ugly scar, souvenir of a tragic past, disfigures the otherwise pretty face of Cristal Potter, whose eyes –**

"Mum, I really wish that you hadn't seen what it read." Lily J said.

"Sorry, I was just curious." Cris said.

**"Ignore the quill, Cristal," said Rita Skeeter firmly. Reluctantly Cris looked up at her instead. "Now — why did you decide to enter the tournament, Cristal?"**

**"I didn't," said Cris. "I don't know how my name got into the Goblet of Fire. I didn't put it in there."**

**Rita Skeeter raised one heavily penciled eyebrow.**

**"Come now, Cristal, there's no need to be scared of getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn't really have entered at all. But don't worry about that. Our readers love a rebel." **

"Well it depends really." Cris said.

"You only break the rules to save someone, whereas here you were kind of forced." Hermione said.

"Exactly," Cris said.

**"But I didn't enter," Cris repeated. "I don't know who -"**

**"How do you feel about the tasks ahead?" said Rita Skeeter. "Excited? Nervous?"**

**"I haven't really thought… yeah, nervous, I suppose," said Cris. Her insides squirmed uncomfortably as she spoke.**

**"Champions have died in the past, haven't they?" said Rita Skeeter briskly. "Have you thought about that at all?"**

**"Well… they say it's going to be a lot safer this year," said Cris.**

"It wasn't," Cris mumbled but Moony heard and raised his eyebrows in worry.

**The quill whizzed across the parchment between them, back and forward as though it were skating.**

**"Of course, you've looked death in the face before, haven't you?" said Rita Skeeter, watching him closely. "How would you say that's affected you?"**

**"Er," said Cris, yet again.**

**"Do you think that the trauma in your past might have made you keen to prove yourself? To live up to your name? Do you think that perhaps you were tempted to enter the Triwizard Tournament because - "**

**"I didn't enter," said Cris, starting to feel irritated.**

**"Can you remember your parents at all?" said Rita Skeeter, talking over her.**

"Now that's a sore subject, why the hell did she bring it up?" Sirius asked.

"Because she's an insensitive bitch." Scarlett said.

"Very true." Remus said.

**"No," said Cris.**

**"How do you think they'd feel if they knew you were competing in the Triwizard Tournament? Proud? Worried? Angry?"**

"A mixture of all three." Lily said.

"Proud of you for being picked, worried for your safety and angry at the person who entered you." Prongs said.

"Thanks," Cris said with a small smile.

**Cris was feeling really annoyed now. How on earth was she to know how her parents would feel if they were alive? She could feel Rita Skeeter watching her very intently. Frowning, she avoided her gaze and looked down at words the quill had just written:**

**Tears fill those startlingly green eyes as our conversation turns to the parents she can barely remember.**

"Really now? The only time I've seen her cry was when we've have been sitting in this room and after the tournament was over." Sirius said.

"She rarely cried as a baby as well." Robin said.

**"I have NOT got tears in my eyes!" said Cris loudly.**

**Before Rita Skeeter could say a word, the door of the broom cupboard was pulled open. Cris looked around, blinking in the bright light. Albus Dumbledore stood there, looking down at both of them, squashed into the cupboard.**

"Good, now you're safe." Lily said.

"For now anyway." Cris said.

**"Dumbledore!" cried Rita Skeeter; with every appearance of delight - but Cris noticed that her quill and the parchment had suddenly vanished from the box of Magical Mess Remover, and Rita's clawed fingers were hastily snapping shut the clasp of her crocodile-skin bag. **

**"How are you?" she said, standing up and holding out one of her large, mannish hands to Dumbledore. "I hope you saw my piece over the summer about the International Confederation of Wizards' Conference?"**

**"Enchantingly nasty," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "I particularly enjoyed your description of me as an obsolete dingbat."**

"Only you," Remus said with a chuckle.

**Rita Skeeter didn't look remotely abashed.**

**"I was just making the point that some of your ideas are a little old-fashioned, Dumbledore, and that many wizards in the street -"**

**"I will be delighted to hear the reasoning behind the rudeness, Rita," said Dumbledore, with a courteous bow and a smile, "but I'm afraid we will have to discuss the matter later. The Weighing of the Wands is about to start, and it cannot take place if one of our champions is hidden in a broom cupboard."**

"Did she interview the others?" Lily asked.

"No," Fleur and Viktor said.

**Very glad to get away from Rita Skeeter, Cris hurried back into the room. The other champions were now sitting in chairs near the door, and she sat down quickly next to Cedric, looking up at the velvet-covered table, where four of the five judges were now sitting - Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman. Rita Skeeter settled herself down in a corner; Cris saw her slip the parchment out of her bag again, spread it on her knee, suck the end of the Quick-Quotes Quill, and place it once more on the parchment.**

**"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his place at the judges' table and talking to the champions. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."**

**Cris looked around, and with a jolt of surprise saw an old wizard with large, pale eyes standing quietly by the window. Cris had met Mr. Ollivander before - he was the wand-maker from whom Cris had bought her own wand over three years ago in Diagon Alley.**

**"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" said Mr. Ollivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room. **

"I zink zat ze order waz random." Fleur said.

"I believe it was." Dumbledore said.

**Fleur Delacour swept over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand.**

**"Hmm…" he said.**

**He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it chose to his eyes and examined it carefully.**

**"Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches… inflexible… rosewood… and containing… dear me…"**

**"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela," said Fleur. "One of my grandmuzzer's."**

"Interesting, I don't think I've heard of that as a core." Remus said.

"Zank you Monsieur Lupin," Fleur said.

**So Fleur was part Veela, thought Cris, making a mental note to tell Ron… then she remembered that Ron wasn't speaking to her.**

"I wish you would have told me." Ron said blushing.

"But where's the fun in that?" Cris said with a smirk.

"You're evil," Ron said.

**"Yes," said Mr. Ollivander, "yes, I've never used Veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands… however, to each his own, and if this suits you…" **

"It doez," Fleur said.

"Good," Bill said with a smile.

**Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.**

**"Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," said Mr. Ollivander, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand. "Mr. Diggory, you next." Fleur glided back to her seat, smiling at Cedric as he passed her.**

**"Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" said Mr. Ollivander, with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn… must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches… ash… pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition… You treat it regularly?"**

**"Polished it last night," said Cedric, grinning.**

**Cris looked down at her own wand. She could see finger marks all over it.**

"It's alright, as long it works right." Sirius said.

**She gathered a fistful of robe from her knee and tried to rub it clean surreptitiously. Several gold sparks shot out of the end of it. Fleur Delacour gave her a very patronizing look, and she desisted.**

**Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand, pronounced himself satisfied, and then said, "Mr. Krum, if you please."**

**Viktor Krum got up and slouched, round-shouldered and duck-footed, toward Mr. Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.**

"You know you should stand up straight or you'll be slouched over for the rest of your life, it happened to my grandfather." Gwen said.

"I vill try," Viktor said with a smile.

**"Hmm," said Mr. Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I… however…"**

**He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.**

**"Yes… hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees… quite rigid… ten and a quarter inches… Avis!"**

**The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the watery sunlight. **

"He seems to have chosen some really interesting spells." Padfoot said.

"That he has." Charlie said.

**"Good," said Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand. "Which leaves… Miss Potter."**

**Cris got to her feet and walked past Krum to Mr. Ollivander. She handed over her wand.**

**"Aaaah, yes," said Mr. Ollivander, his pale eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember."**

**Cris could remember too. She could remember it as though it had happened yesterday…**

**Four summers ago, on her eleventh birthday, she had entered Mr. Ollivander's shop with Hagrid to buy a wand. Mr. Ollivander had taken his measurements and then started handing her wands to try. Cris had waved what felt like every wand in the shop, until at last she had found the one that suited her - this one, which was made of holly, eleven inches long, and contained a single feather from the tail of a phoenix. Mr. Ollivander had been very surprised that Cris had been so compatible with this wand. "Curious," he had said, "curious," and not until Cris asked what was curious had Ollivander explained that the phoenix feather in Cris' wand had come from the same bird that had supplied the core of Lord Voldemort's. **

"Vhat/What?" those who didn't know asked.

"Yes, I do, it saved my life and I'm glad I have it." Cris said.

"Good," Dumbledore said with a smile.

**Cris had never shared this piece of information with anybody. She was very fond of her wand, and as far as she was concerned its relation to Voldemort's wand was something it couldn't help - rather as she couldn't help being related to Aunt Petunia. However, she really hoped that Mr. Ollivander wasn't about to tell the room about it. She had a funny feeling Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill might just explode with excitement if he did.**

**Mr. Ollivander spent much longer examining Cris' wand than anyone else's. Eventually, however, he made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Cris, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.**

**"Thank you all," said Dumbledore, standing up at the judges' table. "You may go back to your lessons now - or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end-" **

"Good, you don't have to become a test subject for Snape." Bill said.

"That's a very good thing," Prongs said glaring at his enemy.

**Feeling that at last something had gone right today, Cris got up to leave, but the man with the black camera jumped up and cleared his throat.**

**"Photos, Dumbledore, photos!" cried Bagman excitedly. "All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?"**

**"Er - yes, let's do those first," said Rita Skeeter, whose eyes were upon Cris again. "And then perhaps some individual shots."**

"Great, not again." Lily said.

**The photographs took a long time. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow wherever she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand far enough back to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it an extra curl; Krum, whom Cris would have thought would have been used to this sort of thing, skulked, half-hidden, at the back of the group.**

"I never did like my picture taken." Viktor said.

"It's okay, some people don't." Gwen said.

**The photographer seemed keenest to get Fleur at the front, but Rita Skeeter kept hurrying forward and dragging Cris into greater prominence. Then she insisted on separate shots of all the champions. At last, they were free to go. Cris went down to dinner. Hermione wasn't there - she supposed she was still in the hospital wing having her teeth fixed. She ate alone at the end of the table, then returned to Gryffindor Tower, thinking of all the extra work on Summoning Charms that she had to do. Up in the dormitory, she came across Ron.**

"This reminds so much of the fight we had." Padfoot said.

"I know, I want them to make up as well." Prongs said.

"Obviously they did," Moony said.

"Oh yeah," they said.

**"You've had an owl," said Ron brusquely the moment she walked in. He was pointing at Cris' pillow. The school barn owl was waiting for her there.**

**"Oh - right," said Cris.**

**"And we've got to do our detentions tomorrow night, Snape's dungeon," said Ron. He then walked straight out of the room, not looking at Cris. For a moment, Cris considered going after him - she wasn't sure whether she wanted to talk to him or hit him, both seemed quite appealing - **

"I'm glad you didn't hit me." Ron said.

"You're welcome." Cris said.

**but the lure of Sirius's answer was too strong. Cris strode over to the barn owl, took the letter off its leg, and unrolled it.**

_**Harry -**_

_**I can't say everything I would like to in a letter, it's too risky in case the owl is intercepted - we need to talk face-to-face. Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?**_

"How are you doing that?" Prongs asked.

"Probably Flooing him." Moony said.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm sure you'll find a way." Prongs said.

_**I know better than anyone that you can look after yourself and while you're around Dumbledore and Moody I don't think anyone will be able to hurt you. However, someone seems to be having a good try. Entering you in that tournament would have been very risky, especially right under Dumbledore's nose.**_

_**Be on the watch, Cris. I still want to hear about anything unusual. Let me know about the 22nd of November as quickly as you can.**_

_**Sirius**_

"That's the chapter," Lily J said.

"That was certainly an interesting chapter." Sirius said.


	22. Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail

Fred took the book from his daughter and grinned.

"Man, if only I was Charlie this would be better." Fred said.

"And why is that?" Charlie asked. To answer his question Fred read the chapter title.

"**Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail," **Fred read.

"That's a dragon, what were you doing near another dragon?!" Lily asked.

"I had no choice in the matter." Cris said.

"You better stay away from it." Lily said. Cris sighed but didn't say anything else.

**The prospect of talking face-to-face with Sirius was all that sustained Cris over the next fortnight, the only bright spot on a horizon that had never looked darker. The shock of finding herself school champion had worn off slightly now, and the fear of what was facing her had started to sink in. The first task was drawing steadily nearer; she felt as though it were crouching ahead of her like some horrific monster, barring her path. She had never suffered nerves like these; they were way beyond anything she had experienced before a Quidditch match, not even her last one against Slytherin, which had decided who would win the Quidditch Cup. Cris was finding it hard to think about the future at all; she felt as though her whole life had been heading up to, and would finish with, the first task. **

"Don't think like that, I'm sure you'll do fine." Prongs said.

"I hope so." Lily said.

**Admittedly, she didn't see how Sirius was going to make her feel any better about having to perform an unknown piece of difficult and dangerous magic in front of hundreds of people, but the mere sight of a friendly face would be something at the moment. Cris wrote back to Sirius saying that she would be beside the common room fire at the time Sirius had suggested; and she and Hermione spent a long time going over plans for forcing any stragglers out of the common room on the night in question. If the worst came to the worst, they were going to drop a bag of Dungbombs, but they hoped they wouldn't have to resort to that - Filch would skin them alive.**

"Probably not skinned but a gross detention definitely." Padfoot said.

"No kidding," Prongs said.

**In the meantime, life became even worse for Cris within the confines of the castle, for Rita Skeeter had published her piece about the Triwizard Tournament, and it had turned out to be not so much a report on the tournament as a highly colored life story of Cris. Much of the front page had been given over to a picture of Cris; the article (continuing on pages two, six, and seven) had been all about Cris, the names of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang champions (misspelled) had been squashed into the last line of the article, and Cedric hadn't been mentioned at all. **

"That's not cool at all." Lily said.

"What do you expect from Skeeter though?" Tonks said.

**The article had appeared ten days ago, and Cris still got a sick, burning feeling of shame in her stomach every time she thought about it. Rita Skeeter had reported her saying an awful lot of things that she couldn't remember ever saying in her life, let alone in that broom cupboard.**

"So that stuff was just a bunch of crap?" Charlie asked.

"Exactly," Cris said.

"That quill is no good then." Remus said.

**I suppose I get my strength from my parents. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now… **

**Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it… **

"Okay, that is a lode of bullshit if I ever heard it." Prongs said.

"Yeah, Cris has never cried at night, screamed, yeah but never cried." Ron said.

"Why scream?" Lily asked.

"I've had some really bad nightmares." Cris said.

"That's understandable." James said.

"Only because you've woken up to Connor and Ryker after they've had a nightmare." Lily J said.

"Are they prone to them?" Cris asked worriedly.

"Not really, it rarely happens but when it does they have bad ones." Al said.

"Poor dears," Mrs. Weasley and Lily said.

**I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me…**

**But Rita Skeeter had gone even further than transforming her "er's" into long, sickly sentences: She had interviewed other people about her too.**

"She didn't interview us," Hermione said.

"Then other people then." Lily said.

"But who?" Moony asked.

"Probably the Slytherins." Padfoot said.

"I doubt that." Prongs said.

**Cristal has at last found love at Hogwarts. Her close friend, Colin Creevey,**

"I doubt whatever he says is right." Gwen said.

"No kidding, what did he say?" Lily asked.

**says that Cris is rarely seen out of the company of one Ronald Weasley, a red headed boy who, like Cris, is one of students who save the school for the past couple of years. **

"Cris and Ron? I don't see that happening." Keiran said.

"Really KJ, you don't say." Victoire said.

"Vhat's vith the KJ stuff anyway?" Viktor asked.

"It's a nickname, my middle name is James so they call me KJ." Keiran said.

"Well that last part was true." Lily said.

"True," Cris and Ron said.

**From the moment the article had appeared, Cris had had to endure people — Slytherins, mainly — quoting it at her as she passed and making sneering comments.**

**"****Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"**

**"****Since when have you saved the school?"**

"Where have they been the last few years?" Al asked.

"With their heads up their…."

"Charles!" Mrs. Weasley screeched.

"It's true though." Charlie said with a shrug.

**"****Hey - Cris!"**

**"****Yeah, that's right!" Cris found herself shouting as she wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more…"**

"I don't think it's someone trying to tease you." Victoire said.

"I know, I was just angry and that just triggered it." Cris said.

"It's understandable." Lily said.

**"****No - it was just - you dropped your quill."**

**It was Cedric. Cris felt the color rising in her face.**

**"****Oh - right - sorry," she muttered, taking the quill back.**

**"****Er… good luck on Tuesday," he said. "I really hope you do well."**

**Which left Cris feeling extremely stupid.**

"Don't worry about, you had no idea it was Cedric." Scarlett said.

"I know," Cris said.

**Ron had come in for his fair share of unpleasantness too, but he hadn't yet started yelling at innocent bystanders; in fact, Cris was full of admiration for the way he was handling the situation.**

"Thanks," Ron said.

"You're welcome," Cris said.

"**Ignore it," Hermione said in a dignified voice, holding her head in the air and stalking past the sniggering Slytherin girls as though she couldn't hear them. "Just ignore it, Cris."**

**But Cris couldn't ignore it. Ron hadn't spoken to her at all since he had told her about Snape's detentions. Cris had half hoped they would make things up during the two hours they were forced to pickle rats' brains in Snape's dungeon, but that had been the day Rita's article had appeared, which seemed to have confirmed Ron's belief that Cris was really enjoying all the attention.**

"How could you believe that, wasn't it obvious that mum was miserable?" James asked.

"I was being a git," Ron said.

"That was obvious Uncle Ron." Lily J said.

**Hermione was furious with the pair of them; she went from one to the other, trying to force them to talk to each other, but Cris was adamant: She would talk to Ron again only if Ron admitted that Cris hadn't put her name in the Goblet of Fire and apologized for calling her a liar.**

**"****I didn't start this," Cris said stubbornly. "It's his problem."**

**"****You miss him!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I know he misses you -"**

**"****Miss him?" said Cris. "I don't miss him…"**

**But this was a downright lie. Cris liked Hermione very much, but she just wasn't the same as Ron. She couldn't talk about Quidditch with Hermione, though talking about boys was fun it just isn't the same.**

"Thank god, I would have been so lost." Hermione said with a teasing smile.

"Hey, I could always tell Ron about the dream." Cris said with a smirk.

"You wouldn't dare." Hermione said wide eyed.

"What dream?" the group asked.

"I think I know." James said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Dear god, you really are Prongs reincarnated." Padfoot laughed.

"Why thank you Uncle Padfoot." James said bowing.

**There was much less laughter and a lot more hanging around in the library when Hermione was your best friend. Cris still hadn't mastered Summoning Charms, she seemed to have developed something of a block about them, and Hermione insisted that learning the theory would help. They consequently spent a lot of time poring over books during their lunchtimes.**

**Viktor Krum was in the library an awful lot too, and Cris wondered what he was up to. Was he studying, or was he looking for things to help him through the first task? **

"Nope!" Cris exclaimed. Hermione blushed as did Viktor.

"Is there something we should know?" Scarlett asked with a smirk.

"Nothing anymore, just friends." Hermione said her cheeks bright red.

**Hermione often complained about Krum being there - not that he ever bothered them - but because groups of giggling girls often turned up to spy on him from behind bookshelves, and Hermione found the noise distracting.**

**"He's not even good-looking!" she muttered angrily, glaring at Krum's sharp profile. "They only like him because he's famous! They wouldn't look twice at him if he couldn't do that WonkyFaint thing -"**

"Wronski Feint!" cried the Quidditch fanatics.

"Why did you tell me about this?" Ron asked.

"I forgot about it with everything that happened." Cris said.

"It's alright," Ron said with a smile.

**"Wronski Feint," said Cris, through gritted teeth. Quite apart from liking to get Quidditch terms correct, it caused her another pang to imagine Ron's expression if he could have heard Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints.**

"It probably would have been something along the lines of that." Cris said pointing at Ron who was giving Hermione a weird look.

"Good one mum," James said with a cheeky smile.

**It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. The days until the first task seemed to slip by as though someone had fixed the clocks to work at double speed. Cris' feeling of barely controlled panic was with her wherever she went, as ever-present as the snide comments about the Daily Prophet article.**

**On the Saturday before the first task, all students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade. Cedric met up with Cris she was happy with the relief. **

"Finally, we get to the date." Lily J said.

"I'm not looking"

"Forward to this,"

"Don't worry, this was the only date." Cris said reassuring the twins.

"Good," the twins said.

"**So what's the plan for today my dear fellow champion?" Cris asked with smile.**

"**Well I thought it would be nice if we stopped at the three broomsticks for some butterbeer. And then walk around and see if you need any help." Cedric said. Cris smiled at him and then grimaced a bit.**

"**I haven't thought about it," Cris said. **

"**Well we should get working, the task is this weekend." He said.**

"**I know, just with everything going on I had totally spaced." Cris said her cheeks burning slightly. **

"**It's alright, we'll just go over some spells that could help seeing as we don't know what we are going to be facing." Cedric said.**

"**That would be great." Cris said with a smile. Cedric smiled and her and took her hand as they walked into the three broomsticks. As they walked in Cris saw Rita Skeeter, and she was on her way out of the tavern.**

"Hide!" screamed the group.

"**Hide me," Cris hissed ducking under a nearby table. Cedric chuckled and hid her, a few minutes later the reporter left. **

"**What was that about?" Cedric asked with a grin.**

"**Can you imagine what she would say if she saw us together? I didn't say a thing during that interview other than 'no' and 'er'. What she wrote was complete and utter bullshit." she ranted. Cedric smiled and her stomach fluttered widely. **

The twins growled and clutched Cris closer to them. Cris chuckled and shook her head.

"**I'm going to get us some butterbeers." Cedric said. **

"**I'm not going anywhere." Cris said. Cedric got up with another smile he was back with two bottles of butterbeer and handed one to her. **

"**So what do you think we're going to be up against?" Cedric asked.**

"**It could be any number of things." She said taking a swig from the bottle. "What have you been doing to prepare?" **

"**I've been just been going over some spells that might come in handy." He said. **

"**That's a smart idea, I haven't thought about that." She said. Cedric chuckled a bit. "So what spells do you think would be good?" **

"**Here let's make a list and you and your friend Granger can practice them." Cedric said. Cris nodded and they got to work, from Cris' bag she pulled out some parchment and a couple of quills and ink. As they were sitting there Cris' mind began to wonder.**

"Oh-uh," Lily J said.

"That's not good, mum's thoughts turn bad when they wonder." James said.

"That is so true." Hermione said with a laugh.

**She imagined how it would have felt to be here if her name hadn't come out of the Goblet of Fire. She wouldn't be sitting here discussing spells with Cedric, for one thing. This would be a normal date. Ron would be her friend again and he and Hermione would be wondering around waiting for her date to be over. After the date they would be discussing what type of tasks the champions would have to face. She'd have been really looking forward to it, watching them do whatever it was… cheering on Cedric with everyone else, safe in a seat at the back of the stands…**

**She wondered how the other champions were feeling. Every time she had seen Cedric lately, he had been surrounded by admirers and looking nervous but excited. Cris glimpsed Fleur Delacour from time to time in the corridors; she looked exactly as she always did, haughty and unruffled. And Krum just sat in the library, poring over books.**

**Cris thought of Sirius, and the tight, tense knot in her chest seemed to ease slightly. She would be speaking to him in just over twelve hours, for tonight was the night they were meeting at the common room fire - assuming nothing went wrong, as everything else had done lately…**

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll be fine." Lily said.

**"Look, it's Hagrid!" said Cedric.**

**The back of Hagrid's enormous shaggy head - he had mercifully abandoned his bunches - emerged over the crowd. Cris wondered why she hadn't spotted him at once, as Hagrid was so large, but standing up carefully, she saw that Hagrid had been leaning low, talking to Professor Moody. Hagrid had his usual enormous tankard in front of him, but Moody was drinking from his hip flask.**

"I should really change that." Moody grumbled.

"Why?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm sure it'll explain soon." Keiran said to the younger version of his dad.

**Madam Rosmerta, the pretty landlady, didn't seem to think much of this; she was looking askance at Moody as she collected glasses from tables around them. Perhaps she thought it was an insult to her mulled mead, but Cris knew better. Moody had told them all during their last Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson that he preferred to prepare his own food and drink at all times, as it was so easy for Dark wizards to poison an unattended cup.**

**As Cris watched, she saw Hagrid and Moody get up to leave. She waved, Hagrid noticed her and walked over to their table.**

**"All right, Cris?" said Hagrid loudly.**

**"Hello," said Cris, smiling back.**

**Moody limped around the table and bent down; Cris thought he was reading the notebook, until he muttered, "Nice cloak, Granger."**

"You spied on them?" Lily asked with a smile.

"I was worried." Hermione said with a shrug.

**Cris stared at him in amazement. The large chunk missing from Moody's nose was particularly obvious at a few inches' distance. Moody grinned. Hermione appeared next to her handing her the cloak.**

**"Can your eye - I mean, can you -?"**

**"Yeah, it can see through Invisibility Cloaks," Moody said quietly. "And it's come in useful at times, I can tell you." **

"**You took my cloak?" Cris asked staring at her friend in amazement.**

"**What do you expect, I was worried." Hermione said with a shrug.**

"No need to repeat yourself Mione," Fred said with a laugh. Hermione glared at him but didn't say anything else.

**Hagrid was beaming down at Cris too. Cris knew Hagrid couldn't have seen Hermione, but Moody had obviously told Hagrid she was there. Hagrid now bent down on the pretext of reading the S.P.E.W. notebook as well, and said in a whisper so low that only Cris could hear it, "Cris, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak." **

"That was really close to when you had to meet me." Sirius said.

"I made it, didn't I?" Cris asked.

"Of course you did." Sirius said with a smile.

**Straightening up, Hagrid said loudly, "Nice ter see yeh, Hermione, Cedric" winked, and departed. Moody followed him.**

**"Why does Hagrid want me to meet him at midnight?" Cris said, very surprised. **

"**Well you hang out with him a lot." Cedric said.**

"That's very true," Ginny said.

**"Does he?" said Hermione, looking startled. "I wonder what he's up to? I don't know whether you should go, Cris…" She looked nervously around and hissed, "It might make you late for Sirius." **

"**Well let's go back up to the castle." Cedric said.**

"**Thanks for the help Cedric." Cris said.**

"**Anytime," he said. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Cris blushed brightly as he left the two girls by themselves. Hermione looked at her and smiled as they walked back up at to the castle.**

**It was true that going down to Hagrid's at midnight would mean cutting her meeting with Sirius very fine indeed; Hermione suggested sending Hedwig down to Hagrid's to tell him she couldn't go - always assuming she would consent to take the note, of course - Cris, however, thought it better just to be quick at whatever Hagrid wanted her for. She was very curious to know what this might be; Hagrid had never asked Cris to visit him so late at night.**

**At half past eleven that evening, Cris, who had pretended to go up to bed early, pulled the Invisibility Cloak back over herself and crept back downstairs through the common room. Quite a few people were still in there. The Creevey brothers had managed to get hold of a stack of Support Cedric Diggory! badges and were trying to bewitch them to make them say Support Cristal Potter! instead. **

"At least there's that." Lily said.

"Uncle Dennis is very kind and sweet that way." Victoire said.

"Uncle Denniz?" Fleur asked.

"Um yeah, Aunt Gabrielle married Dennis Creevey." Victoire said.

"Well 'e zeemed like a very zweet boy." Fleur said.

**So far, however, all they had managed to do was get the badges stuck on POTTER STINKS.**

"He should have asked us for some help." George said.

"We would have." Fred said.

"Or you two would have pranked them." Cris said.

"You know us so well." The twins said kissing her cheek.

**Cris crept past them to the portrait hole and waited for a minute or so, keeping an eye on her watch. Then Hermione opened the Fat Lady for her from outside as they had planned.**

"You've learned our secret!" Prongs exclaimed. Cris smiled and Fred continued reading.

**She slipped past her with a whispered "Thanks!" and set off through the castle.**

**The grounds were very dark. Cris walked down the lawn toward the lights shining in Hagrid's cabin. The inside of the enormous Beauxbatons carriage was also lit up; Cris could hear Madame Maxime talking inside it as she knocked on Hagrid's front door.**

**"You there, Cris?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.**

**"Yeah," said Cris, slipping inside the cabin and pulling the cloak down off her head. "What's up?"**

**"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid.**

"You're telling me that you were there?" Charlie asked wide eyed.

"Maybe," Cris said with a smile.

"So that's how you know about the first task." Sirius said with a grin.

**There was an air of enormous excitement about Hagrid. **

**He was wearing a flower that resembled an oversized artichoke in his buttonhole. It looked as though he had abandoned the use of axle grease, but he had certainly attempted to comb his hair - Cris could see the comb's broken teeth tangled in it.**

"Maybe he shouldn't have tried to tame that hair." Charlie said shivering at the remembrance of that sight.

"It does sound really terrible." Lily J said.

"So he doesn't do that anymore?" Cris asked.

"Nope," James said shaking his head.

"Thank god," The trio said.

**"What're you showing me?" Cris said warily, wondering if the skrewts had laid eggs, or Hagrid had managed to buy another giant three-headed dog off a stranger in a pub.**

**"Come with me, keep quiet, an' keep yerself covered with that cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it…**

"Good grief, he did bring you with him." Charlie said.

"But you had no idea." Cris said with a smile.

"You sneaky girl." Charlie said with a smile.

"Thank my dear future brother-in-law." Cris said.

"Oh yeah, that's true." Charlie said.

"What, did you forget about us already?" Al asked.

"Maybe," Charlie said.

"We need to so prank him." Keiran whispered to Teddy.

"I'm game," Teddy whispered back.

**"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long… I've got to be back up at the castle by one o'clock -"**

**But Hagrid wasn't listening; he was opening the cabin door and striding off into the night. Cris hurried to follow and found, to her great surprise, that Hagrid was leading him to the Beauxbatons carriage.**

**"Hagrid, what -?" **

"Oh my god, is it a date?" Bill asked.

"I think it was." Scarlett said.

"Some date," Charlie said.

**"Shhh!" said Hagrid, and he knocked three times on the door bearing the crossed golden wands.**

**Madame Maxime opened it. She was wearing a silk shawl wrapped around her massive shoulders. She smiled when she saw Hagrid.**

**"Ah, 'Agrid… it is time?"**

**"Bong-sewer," said Hagrid, **

"And Hagrid butchers the French language." James said.

"That was actually pretty good for him though." Padfoot said.

"True," Al said.

**beaming at her, and holding out a hand to help her down the golden steps.**

**Madame Maxime closed the door behind her, Hagrid offered her his arm, and they set off around the edge of the paddock containing Madame Maxime's giant winged horses, with Cris, totally bewildered, running to keep up with them. Had Hagrid wanted to show her Madame Maxime? She could see her any old time she wanted… she wasn't exactly hard to miss… But it seemed that Madame Maxime was in for the same treat as Cris, because after a while she said playfully, "Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?"**

**"Yeh'll enjoy this," said Hagrid gruffly, "worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."**

"So it is about the first task." Moony said.

"But they aren't supposed to know." Lily said.

"Cheating is a part of the competition, Miss Evans." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

**"Of course not," said Madame Maxime, fluttering her long black eyelashes.**

"Did she tell you?" Cris asked Fleur.

"Oui, eet waz early ze next morning." Fleur said.

"I thought so." Cris said with a smile.

**And still they walked, Cris getting more and more irritated as she jogged along in their wake, checking her watch every now and then. Hagrid had some harebrained scheme in hand, which might make her miss Sirius. If they didn't get there soon, she was going to turn around, go straight back to the castle, and leave Hagrid to enjoy his moonlit stroll with Madame Maxime.**

**But then - when they had walked so far around the perimeter of the forest that the castle and the lake were out of sight - Cris heard something. Men were shouting up ahead… then came a deafening, earsplitting roar… Hagrid led Madame Maxime around a clump of trees and came to a halt. Cris hurried up alongside them - for a split second, she thought she was seeing bonfires, and men darting around them - and then her mouth fell open.**

**Dragons. **

"It's incredible that they exist." Gwen said.

"You say that all the time." Al said.

"I bet, you're going to learn lots." Cris said.

"Do ve have kids in the future?" Viktor asked.

"Yes, three, twins and a little boy." Lily J said.

"I don't want you anywhere near them." Lily said.

"I had no choice." Cris said.

**Four**

"One for each champion." Prongs said.

"I don't like that fact." Lily said.

"Just remember, she's just fine and sitting right there." Padfoot said.

**fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons were rearing onto their hind legs inside an enclosure fenced with thick planks of wood, roaring and snorting - torrents of fire were shooting into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths, fifty feet above the ground on their outstretched necks. There was a silvery-blue one with long, pointed horns,**

"Swedish Short-Snout," Viktor, Fleur, Cris and Charlie said.

**snapping and snarling at the wizards on the ground; a smooth-scaled green one,**

"Common Welsh Green," the same people said.

**which was writhing and stamping with all its might; a red one with an odd fringe of fine gold spikes around its face,**

"Chinese Firebolt,"

**which was shooting mushroom-shaped fire clouds into the air; and a gigantic black one, more lizard like than the others, which was nearest to them.**

"Hungarian Horntail,"

"You four seem to know them well." Gwen said.

"Well, you tend to know them when you look after them." Charlie said.

**At least thirty wizards, seven or eight to each dragon, were attempting to control them, pulling on the chains connected to heavy leather straps around their necks and legs. Mesmerized, Cris looked up, high above her, and saw the eyes of the black dragon, with vertical pupils like a cat's, bulging with either fear or rage, she couldn't tell which… It was making a horrible noise, a yowling, screeching scream.**

**"Keep back there, Hagrid!" yelled a wizard near the fence, straining on the chain he was holding. "They can shoot fire at a range of twenty feet, you know! I've seen this Horntail do forty!" **

Lily whimpered but didn't do anything else.

"That sounds awesome." Padfoot exclaimed.

"Not awesome," Lily said slapping Padfoot upside the head.

**"Is'n' it beautiful?" said Hagrid softly.**

"Absolutely," Charlie and Padfoot said.

"Depends, really." Ron whispered.

**"It's no good!" yelled another wizard. "Stunning Spells, on the count of three!"**

**Cris saw each of the dragon keepers pull out his wand.**

**"Stupefy!" they shouted in unison, and the Stunning Spells shot into the darkness like fiery rockets, bursting in showers of stars on the dragons' scaly hides - Cris watched the dragon nearest to them teeter dangerously on its back legs; its jaws stretched wide in a silent howl; its nostrils were suddenly devoid of flame, though still smoking - then, very slowly, it fell. Several tons of sinewy, scaly black dragon hit the ground with a thud that Cris could have sworn made the trees behind her quake.**

"They did," Charlie said with a chuckle.

**The dragon keepers lowered their wands and walked forward to their fallen charges, each of which was the size of a small hill. They hurried to tighten the chains and fasten them securely to iron pegs, which they forced deep into the ground with their wands.**

**"Wan' a closer look?" Hagrid asked Madame Maxime excitedly. The pair of them moved right up to the fence, and Cris followed. The wizard who had warned Hagrid not to come any closer turned, and Cris realized who it was: Charlie Weasley. **

Charlie smiled and Cris chuckled a bit.

**"All right, Hagrid?" he panted, coming over to talk. "They should be okay now - we put them out with a Sleeping Draft on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but, like you saw, they weren't happy, not happy at all -"**

**"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" said Hagrid, gazing at the closest dragon, the black one, with something chose to reverence. Its eyes were still just open. Cris could see a strip of gleaming yellow beneath its wrinkled black eyelid.**

**"This is a Hungarian Horntail," said Charlie. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one — a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue-gray — and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."**

"Good job, you knew all four of them." Gwen said with chuckle.

"Of course, Uncle Charlie would know." James said.

**Charlie looked around; Madame Maxime was strolling away around the edge of the enclosure, gazing at the stunned dragons.**

**"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," Charlie said, frowning. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?" **

"And apparently she did." Charlie said.

"But I knew." Cris said.

"But I had no idea you were there." Charlie said.

"The joys of having an invisibility cloak." Cris said.

**"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," shrugged Hagrid, still gazing, enraptured, at the dragons.**

**"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head.**

"Very," Padfoot said with a snort.

"Well it is Hagrid," Keiran pointed out.

**"Four…" said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"**

**"Just get past them, I think," said Charlie. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, Extinguishing Spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't know why… but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."**

**Charlie pointed toward the Horntail's tail, and Cris saw long, bronze-colored spikes protruding along it every few inches.**

**Five of Charlie's fellow keepers staggered up to the Horntail at that moment, carrying a clutch of huge granite-gray eggs between them in a blanket. They placed them carefully at the Horntail's side. Hagrid let out a moan of longing.**

**"I've got them counted, Hagrid," said Charlie sternly. **

"We really don't want another Norbert incident." Lily said.

"One was bad enough." Tonks said.

"You should see Uncle Charlie's classes, they are about as interesting as Hagrid's classes." Lily J said.

"You better not bring dangerous creatures into your classes Charles!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Charlie said.

"No, in fact the classes are very exciting." James said.

"Good," Prongs said with a smile.

**Then he said, "How's Cris?"**

**"Fine," said Hagrid. He was still gazing at the eggs.**

"He had no idea what you were talking about." Bill said with a smile.

"No," Charlie said with a chuckle.

**"Just hope she's still fine after she's faced this lot," said Charlie grimly, looking out over the dragons' enclosure. "I didn't dare tell Mum what she's got to do for the first task; she's already having kittens about her…" Charlie imitated his mother's anxious voice. "How could they let her enter that tournament, she's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit! She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about her. She still cries about her parents! Oh bless her, I never knew!'"**

"I'm sorry Cris," Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's alright, you didn't know." Cris said with a smile.

**Cris had had enough. Trusting to the fact that Hagrid wouldn't miss her, with the attractions of four dragons and Madame Maxime to occupy him, she turned silently and began to walk away, back to the castle.**

**She didn't know whether she was glad she'd seen what was coming or not. Perhaps this way was better. The first shock was over now. Maybe if she'd seen the dragons for the first time on Tuesday, she would have passed out cold in front of the whole school… but maybe she would anyway… She was going to be armed with her wand - which, just now, felt like nothing more than a narrow strip of wood — against a fifty-foot-high, scaly, spike-ridden, fire-breathing dragon. And she had to get past it. With everyone watching. How?**

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Padfoot said.

"She does well." Bill said with a smirk.

**Cris sped up, skirting the edge of the forest; she had just under fifteen minutes to get back to the fireside and talk to Sirius, and she couldn't remember, ever, wanting to talk to someone more than she did right now — when, without warning, she ran into something very solid.**

**Cris fell backward, her glasses askew, clutching the cloak around her. A voice nearby said, "Ouch! Who's there?"**

**Cris hastily checked that the cloak was covering her and lay very still, staring up at the dark outline of the wizard she had hit. She recognized the goatee… it was Karkaroff. **

"Get out of there quickly." Sirius said.

**"Who's there?" said Karkaroff again, very suspiciously, looking around in the darkness. Cris remained still and silent. After a minute or so, Karkaroff seemed to decide that he had hit some sort of animal; he was looking around at waist height, as though expecting to see a dog. Then he crept back under the cover of the trees and started to edge forward toward the place where the dragons were.**

"Now all the champions know, unless you didn't tell Cedric." Lily said.

"Of course I told Cedric." Cris said with a smile.

**Very slowly and very carefully, Cris got to her feet and set off again as fast as she could without making too much noise, hurrying through the darkness back toward Hogwarts.**

**She had no doubt whatsoever what Karkaroff was up to. He had sneaked off his ship to try and find out what the first task was going to be. He might even have spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime heading off around the forest together – they were hardly difficult to spot at a distance… and now all Karkaroff had to do was follow the sound of voices, and he, like Madame Maxime, would know what was in store for the champions.**

**By the looks of it, the only champion who would be facing the unknown on Tuesday was Cedric.**

**Cris reached the castle, slipped in through the front doors, and began to climb the marble stairs; she was very out of breath, but she didn't dare slow down… She had less than five minutes to get up to the fire.**

**"Balderdash!" she gasped at the Fat Lady, who was snoozing in her frame in front of the portrait hole.**

"Please let her in." Lily muttered under her breath.

"I'm sure she does," Prongs said.

**"If you say so," she muttered sleepily, without opening her eyes, and the picture swung forward to admit her. Cris climbed inside. The common room was deserted, and, judging by the fact that it smelled quite normal, Hermione had not needed to set off any Dungbombs to ensure that she and Sirius got privacy. Cris pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and threw herself into an armchair in front of the fire. The room was in semidarkness; the flames were the only source of light. Nearby, on a table, the Support Cedric Diggory! badges the Creevey's had been trying to improve were glinting in the firelight. They now read POTTER REALLY STINKS. **

"That's not much of an improvement." Scarlett said with a smirk.

"Hey, I thought you loved me." James whined.

"Remind you of someone?" Moony whispered to Padfoot.

"Absolutely, but now it's my daughter and Prongs' grandson." Padfoot said. Moony nodded with a smirk.

**Cris looked back into the flames, and jumped. Sirius's head was sitting in the fire. If Cris hadn't seen Mr. Diggory do exactly this back in the Weasleys' kitchen, it would have scared her out of her wits.**

**Instead, her face breaking into the first smile she had worn for days, she scrambled out of her chair, crouched down by the hearth, and said, "Sirius - how're you doing?"**

**Sirius looked different from Cris' memory of her. When they had said goodbye, Sirius's face had been gaunt and sunken, surrounded by a quantity of long, black, matted hair - but the hair was short and clean now, Sirius's face was fuller, and he looked younger, much more like the only photograph Cris had of him, which had been taken at the Potters' wedding.**

"That's good, you really sounded bad." Prongs said.

"I can't picture dad that way." Scarlett said.

"That's good." Robin said.

**"Never mind me, how are you?" said Sirius seriously.**

**"I'm -" For a second, Cris tried to say "fine" - but she couldn't do it. Before she could stop herself, she was talking more than she'd talked in days - about how no one believed she hadn't entered the tournament of her own free will, how Rita Skeeter had lied about her in the Daily Prophet, how she couldn't walk down a corridor without being sneered at - and about Ron, Ron not believing her, Ron's jealousy…**

**"… and now Hagrid's just shown me what's coming in the first task, and it's dragons, Sirius, and I'm a goner," she finished desperately. **

**Sirius looked at her, eyes full of concern, eyes that had not yet lost the look that Azkaban had given them - that deadened, haunted look he had let Cris talk herself into silence without interruption, but now he said, "Dragons we can deal with, Cris, but we'll get to that in a minute - I haven't got long here… I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire, but they could be back at any time. There are things I need to warn you about."**

**"What?" said Cris, feeling her spirits slip a further few notches… Surely there could be nothing worse than dragons coming? **

"Yes there could be but don't think about it." Lily said.

"It's mum, she will most definitely think about it." Lily J said.

"I know, I was just hoping that she wouldn't though." Lily said.

**"Karkaroff," said Sirius. "Cris, he was a Death Eater. You know what Death Eaters are, don't you?"**

**"Yes - he - what?" **

"'E waz?" Fleur asked surprised.

"Yep, I'm sure you'll find out later." Cris said.

**"He was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year – to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."**

**"Karkaroff got released?" Cris said slowly - her brain seemed to be struggling to absorb yet another piece of shocking information. "Why did they release him?"**

**"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," said Sirius bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names… he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place… **

"I'm sure that they all hate him with a passion." Padfoot said.

"No kidding," Sirius said remembering the vows of the death eaters in prison.

**He's not very popular in there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."**

**"Okay," said Cris slowly. "But… are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing." **

"I don't think he would be that brave." Remus said.

"No kidding," Cris said remembering the end of the year.

**"We know he's a good actor," said Sirius, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Cris…"**

**"- you and the rest of the world," said Cris bitterly.**

**"- and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Cris about to speak, "but I don't think so, somehow. I think someone tried to stop him from getting to Hogwarts. I think someone knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's going to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had." **

"You come pretty close, mum." James said.

"Now that, I find that hard to believe." Kingsley said.

"Just wait," Al said.

**"So… what are you saying?" said Cris slowly. "Karkaroff's trying to kill me? But - why?"**

**Sirius hesitated.**

**"I've been hearing some very strange things," he said slowly. "The Death Eaters seem to be a bit more active than usual lately. They showed themselves at the Quidditch World Cup, didn't they? Someone set off the Dark Mark… and then - did you hear about that Ministry of Magic witch who's gone missing?"**

"That is a lot of coincidences." Tonks said.

"There is no such thing as coincidences." Moody said gruffly.

**"Bertha Jorkins?" said Cris.**

**"Exactly… she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last… and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"**

**"Yeah, but… it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" said Cris.**

**"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," said Sirius grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all. It's not a good combination, Cris. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."**

**"So… so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament?" said Cris. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"**

"No, I don't think Voldemort would take him back." Tonks said.

"But who?" Prongs asked.

"You'll find out." Cris said.

**"I don't know," said Sirius slowly, "I just don't know… Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."**

**"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," said Cris grinning bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."**

**"Right - these dragons," said Sirius, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Cris. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell - dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon -"**

**"Yeah, I know, I just saw," said Cris.**

**"But you can do it alone," said Sirius. "There is away, and a simple spell's all you need. Just -" **

"Why did you stop?" Gwen asked.

"I was just interrupted." Sirius said.

**But Cris held up a hand to silence him, her heart suddenly pounding as though it would burst. She could hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind her.**

**"Go!" she hissed at Sirius. "Go! There's someone coming!"**

"It's just a Gryffindor." Gwen said.

"Yes, but very few people knew of my innocence." Sirius said.

"Oh yeah," Gwen said.

**Cris scrambled to her feet, hiding the fire - if someone saw Sirius's face within the walls of Hogwarts, they would raise an almighty uproar - the Ministry would get dragged in - she, Cris, would be questioned about Sirius's whereabouts - Cris heard a tiny pop! in the fire behind her and knew Sirius had gone. She watched the bottom of the spiral staircase. Who had decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning, and stopped Sirius from telling her how to get past a dragon? It was Ron.**

"At least it was only you." Sirius said.

"I know, but I was acting like a great big prat." Ron said.

**Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Cris across the room, and looked around.**

**"Who were you talking to?" he said.**

**"What's that got to do with you?" Cris snarled.**

"I wish you told me, I could have helped you with it." Ron said.

"My way worked fine though." Cris said.

"True," Ron said.

**"What are you doing down here at this time of night?"**

**"I just wondered where you -" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."**

**"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Cris shouted. She knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on, knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but he didn't care - at this moment she hated everything about Ron, right down to the several inches of bare ankle showing beneath his pajama trousers.**

**"Sorry about that," said Ron, his face reddening with anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace." **

"Ron!" Hermione, Mrs. Weasley screeched.

"I know," Ron said going red.

**Cris seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges off the table and chucked it, as hard as she could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.**

**"There you go," Cris said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky… That's what you want, isn't it?" **

"That hurt you know." Ron said rubbing his forehead.

"Sorry," Cris said with a smirk.

"It's alright," Ron said.

**She strode across the room toward the stairs; she half expected Ron to stop her, she would even have liked Ron to throw a punch at her, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas, and Cris, having stormed upstairs, lay awake in bed fuming for a long time afterward and didn't hear him come up to bed.**

"I slept in the common room." Ron said.

"You could have come up, I wouldn't have hurt you." Cris said with an innocent smile.

"That doesn't work on me, I grew up with Fred and George." Ron said.

"Alright that's enough." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile.

"Well that's the chapter." Fred said passing it to Cris who groaned. She had to get the first task.


	23. Chapter 20: The First Task

"**Chapter 20: The First Task," **Cris read.

"Man, why do I have to read this chapter?" Cris asked.

"Luck of the draw." Padfoot suggested. Cris glared at her young godfather and continued reading.

**Cris got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before she realized she was trying to pull her hat onto her foot instead of her sock. **

The group chuckled a bit and Cris glared before she continued reading again.

**When she'd finally got all her clothes on the right parts of her body, she hurried off to find Hermione, locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling too queasy to eat, Cris waited until Hermione had swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, then dragged her out onto the grounds. There, she told her all about the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, while they took another long walk around the lake.**

**Alarmed as she was by Sirius's warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the more pressing problem.**

**"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening," she said desperately, "and then we can worry about Karkaroff."**

**They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. **

"The Conjunctivitus Curse will work." Charlie said.

"I wish Sirius had told me that." Cris said.

"Your way was very good too." Sirius said with a smile.

**Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Cris pulled down every book she could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile.**

**"****Talon-clipping by charms… treating scale-rot… This is no good; this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy… **

"Oi!" Charlie said.

"Sorry, but that book wasn't going to help me at all." Cris said.

"Yeah, they really wouldn't help you with the task." Al said.

**"****Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate… ' But Sirius said a simple one would do it…**

**"****Let's try some simple spell books, then," said Cris, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much.**

"That's not possible." Charlie said shaking his head.

"It is." Bill muttered. Charlie heard and threw him a dirty look.

**She returned to the table with a pile of spell books, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering nonstop at her elbow.**

**"****Well, there are Switching Spells… but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous… **

"I don't think that would work." Scarlett said.

"It was an option." Cris said with a shrug.

**The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide… I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall… unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers…" **

"I thought about doing that but I don't think I would have been able to survive." Cris said.

"True, you would have been over worked." Hermione said.

**"****Hermione," Cris said, through gritted teeth, "will you shut up for a bit, please? I'm trying to concentrate."**

**But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Cris' brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, which didn't seem to allow room for concentration. She stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping… but dragons had no hair… pepper breath… that would probably increase a dragon's firepower… horn tongue… just what she needed, to give it an extra weapon…**

**"****Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. **

"Are you sure it's not you?" Padfoot asked waggling his eyebrows. Hermione and Viktor blushed; Padfoot had no idea how right he had been.

**"****Come on, Cris, we'll go back to the common room… his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away… "**

**And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.**

**Cris barely slept that night. When she awoke on Monday morning, she seriously considered for the first time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as she looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, she knew she couldn't do it. It was the only place she had ever been happy… well, she supposed she must have been happy with her parents too, but she couldn't remember that unless you count that dream last year.**

"You were a very happy baby." Sirius said with a smile.

"Very, always giggling." Robin said with a smile and rubbing her stomach.

**Somehow, the knowledge that she would rather be here and facing a dragon than back on Privet Drive with Dudley was good to know; it made her feel slightly calmer. **

"Calm is good just be safe." Lily said.

**She finished her bacon with difficulty (her throat wasn't working too well), and as she and Hermione got up, she saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table.**

**Cedric still didn't know about the dragons… the only champion who didn't, if Cris was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum…**

**"****Hermione, I'll see you in the greenhouses," Cris said, coming to her decision as she watched Cedric leaving the Hall. "Go on, I'll catch you up."**

**"****Cris, you'll be late, the bell's about to ring -"**

**"****I'll catch you up, okay?"**

**By the time Cris reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. Cris didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at her every time she went near them. She followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor. This gave Cris an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, she pulled out her wand, and took careful aim.**

**"****Diffindo!"**

"There's your father coming out again." Lily said shaking her head.

"Yes!" Padfoot and Prongs exclaimed.

"No, not a good thing," McGonagall said.

**Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed.**

**"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him. "Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on…"**

**This was exactly what Cris had been hoping for. She slipped her wand back into her robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but herself and Cedric.**

**"Hi," said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. "My bag just split… brand-new and all…"**

**"Cedric," said Cris, "the first task is dragons." **

"Very blunt," James said laughing.

"Mum was very blunt especially when she announced she was pregnant." Al said.

"I'm not surprised," Sirius said with a laugh.

**"What?" said Cedric, looking up.**

**"Dragons," said Cris, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."**

**Cedric stared at her. Cris saw some of the panic she'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric's gray eyes. **

"Well duh, it was dragons," Lily J said.

"What does that make me?" Charlie asked.

"Insane," James said with a smirk.

**"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.**

**"Dead sure," said Cris. "I've seen them."**

**"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know…"**

**"Never mind," said Cris quickly - she knew Hagrid would be in trouble if she told the truth. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now - Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."**

**Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Cris, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes.**

**"Why are you telling me?" he asked. **

"You vere being fair." Viktor said.

"Thanks," Cris said.

**Cris looked at him in disbelief. She was sure Cedric wouldn't have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. Cris wouldn't have let her worst enemy face those monsters unprepared - well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape…**

**"It's just… fair, isn't it?" she said to Cedric. "We all know now… we're on an even footing, aren't we?"**

**Cedric was still looking at her in a slightly suspicious way when Cris heard a familiar clunking noise behind her. She turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom. **

"Great, he heard." Charlie said.

"I'm sure she would be fine." Bill said.

**"Come with me, Potter," he growled. "Diggory, off you go."**

**Cris stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them?**

**"Er - Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology -"**

**"Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please…" **

"I hope you don't get into trouble." Lily said biting his lip.

**Cris followed him, wondering what was going to happen to her now. What if Moody wanted to know how she'd found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid, or just turn Cris into a ferret? Well, it might be easier to get past a dragon if she were a ferret, Cris thought dully, she'd be smaller, much less easy to see from a height of fifty feet…**

The group laughed once again.

"Your imagination is great." Bill said through his laughter.

**She followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Cris, his magical eye fixed upon her as well as the normal one.**

**"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter," Moody said quietly.**

"That's Cris for you though," Keiran said.

"Very true," Teddy said.

**Cris didn't know what to say; this wasn't the reaction she had expected at all.**

**"Sit down," said Moody, and Cris sat, looking around.**

**She had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. **

"Interesting," Gwen said.

"He was full of himself." Remus said.

**When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Cris supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror.**

**On his desk stood what looked like a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Cris recognized it at once as a Sneakoscope, because she owned one herself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. **

"Secrecy Sensor," James said.

"Uncle Sirius has one in his office." Lily J said with a shrug.

"Of course he would." Robin said with a chuckle.

**It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Cris on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room.**

"Foe-Glass," Keiran said with a smirk.

**Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus.**

**"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" said Moody, who was watching Cris closely.**

**"What's that?" Cris asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial.**

**"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies… no use here, of course, too much interference - students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework. Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff," he added in a growl. **

"More like sensing the deceit coming with the teacher." Cris mumbled.

**"And what's the mirror for?"**

**"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk."**

**He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had seven keyholes in a row. Cris wondered what was in there, until Moody's next question brought her sharply back to earth.**

**"So… found out about the dragons, have you?"**

**Cris hesitated. She'd been afraid of this - but she hadn't told Cedric, and she certainly wasn't going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules.**

"It'll be okay, cheating is a part of the tournament." Mr. Weasley said.

**"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."**

**"I didn't cheat," said Cris sharply. "It was - a sort of accident that I found out."**

**Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, lassie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human." **

"I am," Dumbledore said. The group remembered what the future kids said about Dumbledore being killed next year.

**Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swiveled around so fast it made Cris feel queasy to watch it.**

**"So… got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" said Moody.**

**"No," said Cris.**

**"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly. "I don't show favoritism, me. I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is – play to your strengths." **

"Good advice," Tonks said.

"It did do me good." Cris said with a grin.

**"I haven't got any," said Cris, before she could stop herself.**

"Nonsense, you are good at charms and transfiguration and DADA." Neville said.

"Don't forget Quidditch," Charlie said.

"Oh yeah, who could forget." Neville said with a grin.

**"Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?"**

**Cris tried to concentrate. What was she best at? Well, that was easy, really –**

**"Quidditch," she said dully, "and a fat lot of help -"**

**"That's right," said Moody, staring at her very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. "You're a damn good flier from what I've heard."**

"More than good." Sirius said.

"I want to see you fly." Prong said with a wide grin.

"We'll see dad." Cris said with a smile.

**"Yeah, but…" Cris stared at him. "I'm not allowed a broom; I've only got my wand…"**

**"My second piece of general advice," said Moody loudly, interrupting him, "is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to get what you need."**

"Summon your broom." Lily said.

"She was having problems with it though." Prongs said.

"I know, but I bet Hermione will help her." Padfoot said.

**Cris looked at him blankly. What did she need?**

**"Come on, girl…" whispered Moody. "Put them together… it's not that difficult…"**

**And it clicked. She was best at flying. She needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, she needed her Firebolt. And for her Firebolt, she needed –**

**"Hermione,"**

"I don't think that would work mum." James said.

"Idiot she means Aunt Hermione is going to help her." Al said slapping his head.

**Cris whispered, when she had sped into greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as she passed her. "Hermione - I need you to help me."**

**"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Cris?" she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning.**

**"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon." **

"You're on a time crunch." Al said.

"Mum made it through it though." James said.

**And so they practiced. They didn't have lunch, but headed for a free classroom, where Cris tried with all her might to make various objects fly across the room toward her. She was still having problems. The books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping hike stones to the floor.**

**"Concentrate, Cris, concentrate…"**

**"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" said Cris angrily. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason… Okay, try again…"**

**She wanted to skip Divination to keep practicing, **

"Do it, this is much more important." Prongs said.

"No, James. Class is just as important." Lily said snapping at him.

**but Hermione refused pointblank to skive off Arithmancy, and there was no point in staying without her. She therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths.**

"But that means me and Neville." Cris said.

"Don't forget Percy." Scarlett said.

"I wasn't born in July." Percy said.

"No, Charlie's son Percy, he was born on July 20th." Teddy said.

"Oh yeah," Percy said.

**"Well, that's good," said Cris loudly, her temper getting the better of her, "just as long as it's not drawn-out. I don't want to suffer."**

**Ron looked for a moment as though he was going to laugh; he certainly caught Cris' eye for the first time in days, but Cris was still feeling too resentful toward Ron to care. She spent the rest of the lesson trying to attract small objects toward her under the table with her wand. She managed to make a fly zoom straight into her hand, though she wasn't entirely sure that was her prowess at Summoning Charms - perhaps the fly was just stupid.**

"No, it might have been you." Gwen said with a smile.

**She forced down some dinner after Divination, then returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid the teachers. They kept practicing until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Cris wanted things thrown at her, started chucking chairs across the room. **

"Your poltergeist is very childish." Viktor said.

"No kidding," Cris said with a smile.

**Cris and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty.**

**At two o'clock in the morning, Cris stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones, and Neville's toad, Trevor.**

"So that's where he disappeared to." Neville said with a chuckle.

**Only in the last hour had Cris really got the hang of the Summoning Charm.**

**"That's better, Cris, that's loads better," Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased.**

**"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell," Cris said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Hermione, so she could try again, "threaten me with a dragon. Right…" She raised her wand once more. "Accio Dictionary!" The heavy book soared out of Hermione's hand, flew across the room, and Cris caught it.**

**"Cris, I really think you've got it!" said Hermione delightedly.**

**"Just as long as it works tomorrow," Cris said. "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds…" **

"As long as you concentrate on it then you should be fine." Moony said.

**"That doesn't matter," said Hermione firmly. "Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come. Cris, we'd better get some sleep… you're going to need it."**

"No kidding," Lily said.

"You do get enough sleep don't you?" Gwen asked.

"Possibly," Cris said.

**Cris had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of her blind panic had heft her. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.**

"You have no idea how panicked some of the students were." Ginny said.

"I can imagine." Cris said.

**Cris felt oddly separate from everyone around her, whether they were wishing her good luck or hissing "We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter" as she passed.**

**It was a state of nervousness so advanced that she wondered whether she mightn't just lose her head when they tried to lead her out to her dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight. Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment she seemed to be sitting down in her first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch… and then (where had the morning gone? the last of the dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to her in the Great Hall. Lots of people were watching.**

**"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now… You have to get ready for your first task."**

**"Okay," said Cris, standing up, her fork falling onto her plate with a clatter.**

**"Good luck, Cris," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"**

**"Yeah," said Cris in a voice that was most unlike her own.**

**She left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. As she walked her down the stone steps and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on her shoulder. **

"I was worried, I had no idea you were prepared for the task." McGonagall said.

**"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head… We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand… The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you… Are you all right?"**

**"Yes," Cris heard herself say. "Yes, I'm fine."**

**She was leading her toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Cris saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view. She could tell that her hair was trying to find the right color for the feelings she was feeling. It kept changing to orange to burnt orange to sandy brown; anxiousness, nervousness and worry bubbling up inside her.**

"It was a very weird color." Ginny said with a smile.

"It's not my fault that I can't control it." Cris said.

"That's just what happens when the power corresponds with the emotion." Tonks said. Cris nodded and went back to reading.

**"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there… he'll be telling you the - the procedure… Good luck."**

**"Thanks," said Cris, in a flat, distant voice. She left her at the entrance of the tent. Cris went inside.**

**Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a low wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy **

"Of course, we were facing un dragon." Fleur said.

"I was nervous too, the first time I saw them." Scarlett said.

**Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Cris supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Cris entered, Cedric gave her a small smile, which Cris returned, feeling the muscles in her face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it.**

**"Cris! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at her. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!" **

"He is very cheerful." Gwen said.

"He was," Cris said.

"He still is," Keiran said.

**Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again. "Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too… ah, yes… your task is to collect the golden egg!"**

"Doesn't sound too bad." Gwen said.

"It was bad, the dragons are nesting mothers, they are very vicious." Charlie said.

"Oh," Gwen said.

**Cris glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Cris felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this…**

"True, you vere forced." Viktor said.

"I made it through though." Cris muttered.

**And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking… Cris felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then – it seemed like about a second later to Cris - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.**

**"Ladies first," she said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.**

"What about Cris?" Lily asked.

"It's alright mum, he was just excited." Cris said.

"Alright," Lily said.

**She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green.**

"I was hoping Cris would get that one." Lily said.

"Knowing mum, she would end up with the most dangerous." James said.

"I didn't tell you?" Cris asked.

"You did, he's just being an idiot." Scarlett said. James pouted while Scarlett smiled innocently at him.

**It had the number two around its neck. And Cris knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that she had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.**

**The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.**

**Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short - Snout, **

"Great," Prongs said.

"Why is it that you always get into the most dangerous situations?" Lily asked.

"I don't know, but I would like to." Cris said.

**the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Cris put her hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as she looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.**

**"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now… Cris… could I have a quick word? Outside?"**

"What does he want?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know." Sirius said.

"Maybe to give advice." Victoire said.

"But isn't that illegal?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, the judges aren't allowed to give advice." Percy said.

**"Er… yes," said Cris blankly, and she got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked her a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to her with a fatherly expression on his face.**

**"Feeling all right, Cris? Anything I can get you?"**

"He is trying to help." Fudge said.

"I never accepted it." Cris said.

**"What?" said Cris. "I - no, nothing."**

**"Got a plan?" said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," **

**Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here, Cris… Anything I can do to help…"**

**"No," said Cris so quickly she knew she had sounded rude, "no - I - I know what I'm going to do, thanks."**

**"Nobody would know, Cris," said Bagman, winking at her. **

"He should have known better." Percy said.

"Maybe it was because he felt bad that I was entered without my knowing it." Cris said with a shrug.

"It's possible," Remus said.

**"No, I'm fine," said Cris, wondering why she kept telling people this, and wondering whether she had ever been less fine. "I've got a plan worked out, I -"**

**A whistle had blown somewhere.**

**"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.**

**Cris walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Cris tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of her mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt.**

**Cris went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds later, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to face with the living counterpart of his model.**

**It was worse than Cris could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed… yelled… gasped like a single many-headed entity, **

"You should have been in the crowd with us; it was much better watching it then hearing the crowd's reactions." Ginny said.

"I wish," Cris said.

**as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground. Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse… Horrible pictures formed in Cris' mind as she heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow"… "He's taking risks, this one!"… "Clever move - pity it didn't work!"**

**And then, after about fifteen minutes, Cris heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.**

**"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"**

**But he didn't shout out the marks; Cris supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.**

"Yep," Neville said.

"Do you ever know the scores?" Lily asked.

"Later," Cris, Viktor and Fleur said.

**"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"**

**Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Cris felt more warmly toward her than she had done so far as she left the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. She and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.**

**The same process started again…"Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh… nearly! Careful now… good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"**

**Ten minutes later, Cris heard the crowd erupt into applause once more… Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown… more clapping… then, for the third time, the whistle.**

**"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Cris quite alone.**

"That was the worst few minutes of my life." Cris said interrupting herself.

"I bet," Lily J said.

**She felt much more aware of her body than usual; very aware of the way her heart was pumping fast, and her fingers tingling with fear… yet at the same time, she seemed to be outside herself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away.**

**"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Cris heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"**

**Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished – it would be Cris' turn any moment.**

"You have no idea how terrified I was when I realized you had gotten the Horntail." Charlie said.

"Ah, thanks Charlie." Cris said with a smile.

"I was the one who had to tell mom." Charlie said shivering at the thought of when he told her. "She almost made me deaf."

"I wasn't that bad." Mrs. Weasley said. Charlie shook his head with a smile and Cris kept reading, wanting to get this chapter over with.

**She stood up, noticing dimly that her legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. She waited. And then she heard the whistle blow. She walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside her. And now she was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.**

**She saw everything in front of her as though it was a very highly colored dream.**

**There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at her from stands that had been magicked there since she'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon her, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, leaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Cris didn't know or care. It was time to do what she had to do… to focus her mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was her only chance.**

**She raised her wand.**

**"Accio Firebolt!" she shouted.**

"Out of curiosity, couldn't you have summoned the egg?" Gwen asked.

"No, they had an anti-summoning charm on it." Percy said.

"Oh, it was just a thought." Gwen said.

**Cris waited, every fiber of her hoping, praying… If it hadn't worked… if it wasn't coming… **

"You didn't doubt when you were casting it were you?" Bill asked.

"No," Cris said.

"Then it should come." Lily said.

**She seemed to be looking at everything around her through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around her swim strangely…**

**And then she heard it, speeding through the air behind her; she turned and saw her Firebolt hurtling toward her around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside her, waiting for her to mount. The crowd was making even more noise… Bagman was shouting something…**

"I think it was because nobody thought about that." Charlie said.

"I'm just creative that way." Cris said with a grin.

"That's true," George said.

**but Cris' ears were not working properly anymore… listening wasn't important…**

**She swung her leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened…**

**As she soared upward, as the wind rushed through her hair, as the crowd's faces became mere flesh-colored pinpricks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, she realized that she had left not only the ground behind, but also her fear… She was back where she belonged…**

"You know you refused to walk or crawl when Sirius got you the toy broomstick, Prongs and Lily couldn't get you off that thing." Robin said.

"I remember that," Remus said with a laugh.

"It was the same with Lily J, James and Al." Teddy said with a grin.

"You were like that too Ted." Lily J said.

"I know," Teddy said giving her a flirtatious grin.

**This was just another Quidditch match, that was all… just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail was just another ugly opposing team.**

"That's one way to do it, and your target is even gold." Prongs said.

"It worked." Cris said with a shrug.

"It was brilliant." Ron said.

**She looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs.**

"**Okay," Cris told herself, "diversionary tactics… let's go…"**

**She dived. The Horntail's head followed her; she knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where she would have been had she not swerved away… but Cris didn't care… that was no more than dodging a Bludger.**

"It's a bit more dangerous." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know, but to keep myself calm that's what I thought about." Cris said.

"Good," Moody said.

**"Great Scott, she can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"**

"It did shock me, I didn't even think of that." Viktor said.

"You did well." Cris said.

**Cris soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following her progress; its head revolving on its long neck - if she kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy – but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again – **

"Just don't get into its range and you'll be fine." Charlie said.

"Charlie, this already happened and you were there." Cris said.

"Oh yeah." Charlie said.

**Cris plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time she was less lucky - she missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet her instead, and as she swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed her shoulder, ripping her robes —**

"You were too hurt were you?" Lily asked.

"Nothing Madame Pomfrey couldn't fix." Cris said.

"Good," Lily said. Cris rolled her eyes but was ecstatic at the treatment and kept reading.

**She could feel it stinging, she could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn't seem to be deep… Now she zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to her…**

**The Horntail didn't seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Cris, she was afraid to move too far from them… but she had to persuade her to do it, or she'd never get near them… The trick was to do it carefully, gradually…**

"You would make a good dragon-keeper, if you weren't going to be an Auror." Charlie said.

"I would rather her be an Auror." Lily said.

**She began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave her off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on her. Her head swayed this way and that, watching her out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared…**

**She flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with her, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, like a snake before its charmer… Cris rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. She was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but she was too high to reach now… She shot fire into the air, which she dodged… Her jaws opened wide…**

**"Come on," Cris hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, "come on, come and get me… up you get now…"**

"Please let that scratch be the only injury." Lily muttered under her breath.

**And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Cris dived. Before the dragon knew what she had done, or where she had disappeared to, she was speeding toward the ground as fast as she could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs - she had taken her hands off her Firebolt - she had seized the golden egg –**

"Yes!" cried the room.

"That seemed pretty fast." Remus said.

"It was the fastest." Ron said.

**And with a huge spurt of speed, she was off, she was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under her uninjured arm, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up - for the first time, she became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup -**

**"Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get her egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Miss Potter!"**

"I wonder how they do the scores." James said.

"Probably on daring, skill, time and whether or not they were injured." Scarlett said.

"Are you in Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked.

"No, but I take after mum." Scarlett said.

**Cris saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet her, all of them waving her toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. She flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding her eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, her heart lighter than it had been in weeks… She had got through the first task, she had survived.**

"Now you just need to get through two more tasks." Prongs said.

"Don't think like that." Lily said.

**"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as she got off the Firebolt - which from her was extravagant praise. She noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at her shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score… Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already…" **

"How bad were his injuries?" Robin asked.

"Just a few burns but nothing too bad." Ginny said.

**"Yeh did it, Cris!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' - "**

"Don't remind me," Mrs. Weasley said.

"No one heard that comment did they?" Keiran asked.

"I don't think so." Cris said.

**"Thanks, Hagrid," said Cris loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Cris the dragons beforehand.**

**Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket.**

**"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.**

**"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please…" said Professor McGonagall.**

**Cris walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.**

"Of course, this is what, the fifth time Cris had to go to Madame Pomfrey." Hermione said.

"Hey!" Cris said.

**"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Cris inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; she could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Cris' shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? **

"Giants?" Bill suggested. The future kids giggled, everyone was confused.

"Do we want to know?" Sirius asked.

"No probably not." James said.

**You're very lucky… this is quite shallow… it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though…"**

**She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked her shoulder with her wand, and she felt it heal instantly. "Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."**

**She bustled out of the tent and she heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"**

**Cris didn't want to sit still: She was too full of adrenaline. She got to her feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before she'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside - Hermione, followed closely by Ron. **

"Finally!" cried the adults in the room.

"Took him long enough." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"Cris, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. **

"I was," Hermione said blushing.

**"You were amazing! You really were!"**

**But Cris was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Cris as though she were a ghost. The Ron broke and threw his arms around her. **

"I was scared that I wouldn't be able to apologize for everything." Ron said.

"That's understandable." Sirius said sadly thinking about Prongs.

**Ron let go and looked at her straight in her eyes. "Cris," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I – I reckon they're trying to do you in!"**

"No shit Sherlock," Gwen said.

**It was as though the last few weeks had never happened - as though Cris were meeting Ron for the first time, right after she'd been made champion.**

**"Caught on, have you?" said Cris coldly. "Took you long enough."**

**Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Cris knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly she found she didn't need to hear it. The hug was enough**

**"It's okay," she said, before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."**

**"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've -"**

**"Forget it," Cris said.**

**Ron grinned nervously at her, and Cris grinned back. **

"Is that all it takes?" Sirius asked. Think about the fight between him and Prongs.

"Usually," Cris and Ron said.

**Hermione burst into tears.**

**"There's nothing to cry about!" Cris told her.**

**"You two are so stupid!" she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling.**

"It's usually me and Ron that fight not Cris and Ron." Hermione said.

"It's not their only one either." James whispered under his breath.

**"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head. "Cris, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores…"**

**Picking up the golden egg and her Firebolt, feeling more elated than she would have believed possible an hour ago, Cris ducked out of the tent, Ron by her side, talking fast.**

**"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground… turned it into a dog… he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. **

"Not a bad plan." Sirius said.

**Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance - well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though. Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."**

"We were kind of upset about that." Charlie said.

"Its okay little brother." Bill said patting his shoulder. Charlie huffed and the group chuckled a bit.

**Ron drew breath as he and Cris reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Cris could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.**

**"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Cris squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight. **

"At least that's fair." Remus said.

"Probably for the injury." Robin said.

**"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder…"**

**Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.**

"Again, not bad." Padfoot said.

**"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Cris on the back.**

**Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.**

**Ludo Bagman - ten. **

"But she got hurt." Gwen said.

"Maybe he gave extra for the flying." Keiran said with a shrug.

**"Ten?" said Cris in disbelief. "But… I got hurt… What's he playing at?"**

**"Cris, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly.**

**And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four. **

"What! That's completely biased!" Lily J exclaimed.

"We know, and that's okay." Hermione said.

"But still," Padfoot exclaimed.

**"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scumbag, you gave Krum ten!"**

**But Cris didn't care, she wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given her zero; Ron's indignation on her behalf was worth about a hundred points to her. She didn't tell Ron this, of course, but her heart felt lighter than air as she turned to leave the enclosure. **

"You know, I was very tempted to kiss your cheek right then." Cris said.

"I'm glad you didn't." Ron said.

"I would have understood, Bolt was just glad that you were back to being her friend." Hermione said.

"Exactly," Cris said.

**And it wasn't just Ron… those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what she was facing, most of the school had been on her side as well as Cedric's… She didn't care about the Slytherins; she could stand whatever they threw at her now.**

**"You're tied in first place, Cris! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley,**

"That's amazing." Moony said.

**hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable! Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes… Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."**

"It might be about the second task." Prongs said.

"I hope it's safer." Lily said. They missed the looks from the group.

**Ron said he would wait, so Cris reentered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. She thought back to how she'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before she'd walked out to face it… There was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse. Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Cris when he saw her.**

"Did you talk to him about the date?" Lily asked.

"Maybe," Cris said.

**"Good one, Cris."**

**"And you," said Cris, grinning back. **

"**Think we can talk after this?" he asked. She nodded in agreement and went to pay attention as one of the judges came in.**

**"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see that they open… see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg - because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!" **

"At least you get a break." Lily said.

"Yeah, I wonder what the clue is?" Moony said.

"We could probably solve it when we hear it." Teddy said.

**Cedric walked up to Cris and smiled. **

"**You did a really good job, I wouldn't have thought about it." Cedric said. **

"**Thanks, that looks like it hurts." She said pointing at the burns on his face. **

"**Nothing to worry about, I'll be fine, it's actually us I want to talk about." He said. **

"**You just want to be friends don't you?" Cris asked. **

"**Yes, and it has nothing to do with the Prophet article, I was just sorting out my feelings. I felt something for you last year and I realized it was only like a friend, or a sister." He said. **

"**Don't worry, I understand, the same for me too. I got to go, Ron's waiting for me." Cris said. Cedric nodded and she turned to leave.**

"At least it was simple." Prongs said.

"Yeah, I felt nothing for him." Cris said.

"Good," the twins said. Cris giggled and kissed their cheeks before continuing the chapter.

**Cris left the tent, rejoined Ron, and they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Cris wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Cris had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.**

**It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them. **

"Great what does she want?" Padfoot asked.

"Anything to get a story." Bill said.

"No kidding," Lily J said.

**"Congratulations, Cris!" she said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"**

**"Yeah, you can have a word," said Cris savagely. "Good-bye."**

"You are so my daughter." Lily said with a laugh.

"What, she was irritating and getting on my nerves." Cris said.

"I can understand that." Remus said.

**And she set off back to the castle with Ron.**

"That's the chapter." Cris said closing the book.

"I think it's time for lunch." Mrs. Weasley said checking her watch. Cris put the book on the table as some of the girls went to help Mrs. Weasley out with lunch.


	24. Break 3

***With Victoire and Keiran***

Victoire rushed over to Keiran and gave him a very passionate kiss which he returned. They stood like that for a few seconds before they pulled away from each other.

"I've wanted to do that for a while now." Victoire whispered in his ear.

"Me too," Keiran whispered back.

"You think we can switch up the seating arrangements a bit?" she asked.

"I think we can." Keiran said with a chuckle. When Grandma came back in with the lunch and Victoire sat in his lap.

***With Teddy and Lily J***

Teddy was watching Lily J while she was helping her grandmother cook lunch. Teddy smiled and walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Guess who," Teddy whispered in her ear.

"Oh Teddy, you're such a goof." Lily J said.

"I think I've been hanging around Keiran too much." He said with a chuckle. Lily J turned around and kissed him lightly.

"Is that all I get?" he asked.

"For now," Lily J said with a chuckle.

"Can you sit next to me?" Teddy asked.

"Why? Don't love Keiran anymore?" Lily J asked with a smirk.

"I'll always love my cousin but I want to be with my girlfriend." He said.

"That's understandable." She said with a wide smile she got from her mom. Teddy leaned down and kissed her again this time a little more passionate.

***With Scarlett and James***

James tried and tried again to sneak up on Scar on numerous occasions and neither have worked on her so he thought he would try again. James was on tip toes has he snuck up on his love.

"What are you doing James?" Scar asked.

"How do you always do that?" James asked as she turned on him with a smile on her face.

"I have my ways." She said with a smirk that was reminiscent of her father. James shook his head and gathered her up and kissed her deeply.

"Remember when we first got together?" Scar asked with a giggle.

"Yeah, we had to sneak out to be together because we didn't want to tell Lils or Hals yet." James said with a chuckle.

"You know with as many girls as you hang out with one would think that you would be gay." A voice said from behind them. They turned to see Remus or Al standing there with a smirk.

"I'll have you know, I hang out with guys as well and look at Uncle Ron, and his best friends are girls." James said.

"True," Al said.

"Get out of here little brother." James said as he went back to kissing Scarlett. Al gagged and got out of there.

"Sit with me," Scar said with big eyes.

"How can I say no to that?" James asked.

"You can't," Scar said with a chuckle and kissed her again.

***With Draco and Luna***

Draco was sitting in a corner contemplating what he has heard so far from these stories when Luna walked up to him. He looked up into her silvery grey eyes and his heart stopped for a moment.

"You know you don't have to be like your father." Luna said.

"Did you know that the hat wanted to put me in a different house, I was just afraid that I would disgrace my father." Draco said.

"You're your own person, that's what makes you, you." Luna said.

"Thanks," he said.

"That's what I like about you." She said. Draco looked at her and did something he never thought about doing before and brought her down and kissed her, to his surprise she kissed him back.

Then to his surprise Cris plopped down next to them.

"So, if the two of you are going to be together there is something you should know." Cris said.

"What is that?" Draco asked.

"Alright, you must keep this a secret especially from the ministry officials in the room with us." Cris whispered.

"Are you talking about the secret group in the school?" Draco asked.

"Exactly," Luna whispered.

"So what is this group?" he asked.

"It's a group we created to learn how to defend ourselves; I'm not telling you anymore if you agree and swear to not tell, we'll talk to Mia later about it if you agree." Cris said.

"If it's learning about defense then count me in, where do I sign?" Draco asked. Cris smiled and signaled for Hermione, she came over with Ron.

"What's going on Bolt?" Ron asked.

"We have a new member for the D.A." Cris whispered. Hermione looked at Draco while Ron looked apprehensive.

"Follow us," Hermione said. They stood up and walked into the room they had created and followed them in. Fred, George, Ginny and Neville came in with them.

"So you want to be a part of the DA?" Fred asked. Draco nodded and Hermione produced a sheet of parchment and quill and ink.

"Do you really want to learn?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Draco said.

"Alright, when you sign this you will never be able to tell, and you will get this, it'll alert you to the location and date and time of the meetings." Hermione said. Draco nodded and signed his name on the bottom of the page and was given a fake galleon.

"Alright, now, can you explain what D.A. stands for?" he asked.

"Dumbledore's Army, it was my idea." Ginny said.

"Why Dumbledore's Army?" Draco asked.

"It's what the minister fears, it's ironic." Cris said.

"I see your point." Draco said. A knock on the door was heard before Bill popped his head in.

"Lunch is done, what are you guys doing in here?" Bill asked.

"Having an orgy, what does it look like?" Fred said. Bill arched his eyebrow and chuckled and walked back out of the room. The group followed and Cris noticed that Victoire was sitting in Keiran's lap, Lily J was cuddled next to Teddy the same with Scar and James.

"Are we switching the reading order?" Ginny asked.

"No, let's keep it the same," Victoire said. They nodded and George picked up the book to continue reading.


	25. Chapter21:The House-Elf Liberation Front

George picked up the book to beginning reading the next chapter.

"Do you change the name of your House-Elf thing?" George asked.

"No," Hermione said shaking her head. George shrugged and read the chapter title.

"**Chapter 21: The House-Elf Liberation Front," **George read.

"That would be why he asked if you changed the name." Al said with a smile.

"That's a better name for it." Hermione said.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery that evening to find Pigwidgeon, so that Cris could send Sirius a letter telling him that she had managed to get past her dragon unscathed. On the way, Cris filled Ron in on everything Sirius had told her about Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time they entered the Owlery Ron was saying that they ought to have suspected it all along. **

**"****Fits, doesn't it?" he said. "Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup… I'll tell you one thing, though, Cris, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it? You only got a scratch! Come here - I'll do it -" **

"No wonder you're an Auror in the future." Tonks said.

"That's good think Weasley." Moody said nodding his head. Ron blushed and looked down.

**Pigwidgeon was so overexcited at the idea of a delivery he was flying around and around Cris' head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and held him still while Cris attached the letter to his leg.**

**"There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?" Ron went on as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window. "You know what? I reckon you could win this tournament, Cris, I'm serious."**

"No you're not, I am." Sirius, Padfoot and James said.

"That joke was old back in first year." Remus and Teddy said. They pouted while the group laughed slightly.

**Cris knew that Ron was only saying this to make up for his behavior of the last few weeks, but she appreciated it all the same. Hermione, however, leaned against the Owlery wall, folded her arms, and frowned at Ron.**

**"Cris' got a long way to go before she finishes this tournament," she said seriously. "If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next."**

Lily whimpered she really didn't want to think about it.

"It will probably more dangerous than the first one." Keiran said.

**"Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?" said Ron. "You and Professor Trelawney should get together sometime."**

**He threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again;**

"That was a long letter pup," Sirius said with a smile.

"I was excited; I had to give you all the details." Cris said with a smile.

"Well, it was a lot that happened." Remus said.

**the letter attached to his leg was much longer and heavier than usual - **

"That it was," Robin said.

"I was with Robin and Remus a lot of the time." Sirius said. Robin blushed while Keiran and Scarlett gagged.

"An image I do not want in my head." Keiran said.

"Get your head out of the gutter KJ." Victoire said.

**Cris hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of exactly how she had swerved, circled, and dodged the Horntail. They watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, "Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Cris - Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now."**

"It's not exactly hard." Padfoot said.

"We know," Keiran and Teddy said.

"That's my boy," Sirius said with a laugh.

**Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Cris zooming around the Horntail's head on her Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire.**

"That was a bit of an exaggeration." Ginny said.

"I was guessing," Cris said with a giggle.

**Cris helped herself to food; she had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down with Ron and Hermione. She couldn't believe how happy she felt; she had Ron back on her side, she'd gotten through the first task, and she wouldn't have to face the second one for three months.**

**"Blimey, this is heavy," said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Cris had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. "Open it, Cris, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!"**

"Not a bad idea." Remus said.

"The more people to help the better." Lily said.

**"She's supposed to work out the clue on her own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules…"**

**"I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own too," Cris muttered, so only Hermione could hear her, and she grinned rather guiltily.**

**"Yeah, go on, Cris, open it!" several people echoed.**

**Lee passed Cris the egg, and Cris dug her fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and pried it open.**

**It was hollow and completely empty - but the moment Cris opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room.**

"What the bloody hell?" Prongs asked.

"How is that a clue?" Padfoot asked.

"Let George continue to read." Lily said.

**The nearest thing to it Cris had ever heard was the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party, who had all been playing the musical saw.**

"That's not fun at all." Remus said glaring at his sister and Sirius.

"Don't look at us, it was Prongs fault, he accepted the invite." Sirius said pointing at Prongs across the room. Prongs looked sheepish and George continued reading.

**"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.**

**"What was that?" said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Cris slammed it shut again. "Sounded like a banshee… Maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Cris!" **

"I don't think that's it." Tonks said.

"Didn't you hear what it was?" Cris asked.

"No," Tonks said.

**"It was someone being tortured!" said Neville, who had gone very white and spilled sausage rolls all over the floor. "You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!" **

"That happened in the third task." Cris mumbled. Remus, Moony and Teddy heard her and went wide eyed but didn't say anything else.

**"Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal," said George. "They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Cris."**

Percy went red almost as red as his hair.

"Yell, his singing is atrocious." Charlie said chuckling.

"It's not that bad is it?" Lily asked.

"Think of Sirius' singing, but it's worse." Ron said.

"Now that I find hard to believe." Prongs said.

**"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" said Fred.**

**Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned.**

"Don't take it." Bill said.

"We know," the trio said. Neville blushed, remembering be turned into a canary.

"This should be good." The marauders said.

**"It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch -"**

"What did the two of you do?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Nothing," they said.

**Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed.**

**"Just my little joke, Neville…"**

**Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, "Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?"**

**"Yep," said Fred, grinning at her. He put on a high-pitched squeak and imitated a house-elf. "'Anything we can get you, sir, anything at all!' They're dead helpful… get me a roast ox if I said I was peckish."**

"I don't think that they would go that far." Padfoot said.

"Well it seemed like it at the time." Fred said.

"Why is Hermione asking anyway, they have the map." Prongs said. Hermione blushed and Ron and Cris chuckled.

"I forgot about the map." Hermione said.

**"How do you get in there?" Hermione said in an innocently casual sort of voice.**

"Somehow I knew she was going to be asking that." Sirius said.

"Yeah," Cris said.

"We know you too well." Ron said. Hermione blushed but didn't say anything else.

**"Easy," said Fred, "concealed door behind a painting of a bowl of fruit. Just tickle the pear, and it giggles and -" He stopped and looked suspiciously at her. "Why?"**

**"Nothing," said Hermione quickly.**

**"Going to try and lead the house-elves out on strike now, are you?" said George. "Going to give up all the leaflet stuff and try and stir them up into rebellion?"**

**Several people chortled. Hermione didn't answer.**

**"Don't you go upsetting them and telling them they've got to take clothes and salaries!" said Fred warningly. "You'll put them off their cooking!"**

"That would be bad." Ron said.

"Though some of us could do with eating a bit less." Ginny said looking directly at Ron.

**Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary.**

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

"That was pretty impressive magic." Dumbledore said. Fred and George high-fived and cheered Cris rolled her eyes but kissed them anyway.

**"Oh - sorry, Neville!" Fred shouted over all the laughter. "I forgot - it was the custard creams we hexed -"**

**Within a minute, however, Neville had molted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal. He even joined in laughing. "Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. "George and I invented them - seven Sickles each, a bargain!"**

"No wonder your shop is successful." Prongs said.

"Thanks oh future father-in-law." The twins said bowing. Prongs grimaced slightly at the thought, he was too young to be a father-in-law.

**It was nearly one in the morning**

"You guys need to go to bed." Lily said.

"We did," the present Gryffindors said.

**when Cris finally went up to the dormitory with Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Before she pulled the curtains of her four-poster shut. Cris set her tiny model of the Hungarian Horntail on the table next to her bed, where it yawned, curled up, and closed its eyes. **

"Ah, that makes it sound cute." Lily J said.

"You spend way too much time with Uncle Charlie." Al said with a chuckle. Lily J glared at her brother and backed away from his sister.

**Really, Cris thought, as she pulled the hangings on her four-poster closed, Hagrid had a point… they were all right, really, dragons…**

"The tiny model anyway." Cris said finishing her thought.

"That makes more sense." Hermione said with a smile.

"For a second I thought you lost it." Ginny said.

**The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. Drafty though the castle always was in winter. Cris was glad of its fires and thick walls every time she passed the Durmstrang ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies. She thought the Beauxbatons caravan was likely to be pretty chilly too. Hagrid, she noticed, was keeping Madame Maxime's horses well provided with their preferred drink of single-malt whiskey; the fumes wafting from the trough in the comer of their paddock was enough to make the entire Care of Magical Creatures class light-headed. This was unhelpful, as they were still tending the horrible skrewts and needed their wits about them. **

"How long does this project last?" Padfoot asked.

"All year." The current fifth years said.

"That sucks." Prongs said.

**"I'm not sure whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch next lesson. "Thought we'd jus' try an see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes…"**

**There were now only ten skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill one another had not been exercised out of them. Each of them was now approaching six feet in length. Their thick gray armor; their powerful, scuttling legs; their fire-blasting ends; their stings and their suckers, combined to make the skrewts the most repulsive things Cris had ever seen. The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.**

"I don't think that will last long." Charlie said.

"It didn't," Cris said.

"Doesn't surprise me." Sirius said.

**"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."**

**But the skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling, "Don panic, now, don' panic!" while the skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smoldering wreckage of the boxes. Most of the class - Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle in the lead - had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in; Cris, Ron, and Hermione, however, were among those who remained outside trying to help Hagrid. Together they managed to restrain and tie up nine of the skrewts, though at the cost of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one skrewt was left.**

**"Don' frighten him, now!" Hagrid shouted as Ron and Cris used their wands to shoot jets of fiery sparks at the skrewt, which was advancing menacingly on them, its sting arched, quivering, over its back. "Jus' try an slip the rope 'round his sting, so he won hurt any o' the others!"**

"How do you stop them?" Lily asked.

"It wasn't easy." Cris said.

"Eet was doable." Fleur said.

**"Yeah, we wouldn't want that!" Ron shouted angrily as he and Cris backed into the wall of Hagrid's cabin, still holding the skrewt off with their sparks.**

**"Well, well, well… this does look like fun."**

**Rita Skeeter**

"What is she doing there?" Remus asked.

"Being her nosy self." Cris said.

"Other than that." He said.

**was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile-skin handbag was over her arm.**

**Hagrid launched himself forward on top of the skrewt that was cornering Cris and Ron and flattened it; a blast of fire shot out of its end, withering the pumpkin plants nearby.**

"He didn't kill it did he?" Charlie asked.

"No, the armor is very thick." Cris said. Viktor and Fleur nodded in agreement remembering facing them in the maze for the third task.

**"Who're you?" Hagrid asked Rita Skeeter as he slipped a loop of rope around the skrewt's sting and tightened it.**

**"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter," Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.**

**"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore," said Hagrid, frowning slightly as he got off the slightly squashed skrewt and started tugging it over to its fellows.**

**Rita acted as though she hadn't heard what Hagrid had said.**

"Of course she did." Lily J said with a scowl. This reminded everyone of Ginny which she saw.

**"What are these fascinating creatures called?" she asked, beaming still more widely.**

**"Blast-Ended Skrewts," grunted Hagrid.**

**"Really?" said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. "I've never heard of them before… where do they come from?"**

"Hogwarts," Padfoot said.

"We know," the group said.

**Cris noticed a dull red flush rising up out of Hagrid's wild black beard, and his heart sank. Where had Hagrid got the skrewts from? Hermione, who seemed to be thinking along these lines, said quickly, "They're very interesting, aren't they? Aren't they, Cris?"**

**"What? Oh yeah… ouch… interesting," said Cris as she stepped on her foot.**

"It would have been more convincing if you hadn't stepped on my foot." Cris said.

"Sorry Bolt, I was nervous." Hermione said.

"I could tell." Cris said.

**"Ah, you're here. Cris!" said Rita Skeeter as she looked around. "So you like Care of Magical Creatures, do you? One of your favorite lessons?"**

**"Yes," said Cris stoutly. Hagrid beamed at her.**

"You made his day." Prongs said.

"I know," Cris said with a smile.

**"Lovely," said Rita. "Really lovely. Been teaching long?" she added to Hagrid. Cris noticed her eyes travel over Dean (who had a nasty cut across one cheek). Lavender (whose robes were badly singed), Seamus (who was nursing several burnt fingers), and then to the cabin windows, where most of the class stood, their noses pressed against the glass waiting to see if the coast was clear. **

"Just what Hagrid needed." Keiran said groaning.

"It worked out in the end remember." Victoire said, she was sitting in his lap with her head on his shoulder.

"Oh yeah," Keiran said.

"I think you've taken a bludger to the head to many time." Vic said with a chuckle. Keiran pouted but didn't say anything else.

**"This is o'ny me second year," said Hagrid.**

**"Lovely… I don't suppose you'd like to give an interview, would you? Share some of your experience of magical creatures? The Prophet does a zoological column every Wednesday, as I'm sure you know. We could feature these - er - Bang- Ended Scoots."**

**"Blast-Ended Skrewts," Hagrid said eagerly. "Er - yeah, why not?"**

"Don't do it!" Padfoot exclaimed.

"It'll only make things worse." Prongs said.

"We know," the group said.

**Cris had a very bad feeling about this, but there was no way of communicating it to Hagrid without Rita Skeeter seeing, so she had to stand and watch in silence as Hagrid and Rita Skeeter made arrangements to meet in the Three Broomsticks for a good long interview later that week. Then the bell rang up at the castle, signaling the end of the lesson.**

**"Well, good-bye, Cris!" Rita Skeeter called merrily to her as she set off with Ron and Hermione. "Until Friday night, then, Hagrid!"**

**"She'll twist everything he says," Cris said under her breath.**

"No kidding," Sirius said.

"How bad was it?" Lily asked.

"We aren't telling," the trio said.

"Not cool," the past kids said.

**"Just as long as he didn't import those skrewts illegally or anything," said Hermione desperately. They looked at one another - it was exactly the sort of thing Hagrid might do.**

**"Hagrid's been in loads of trouble before, and Dumbledore's never sacked him," said Ron consolingly. "Worst that can happen is Hagrid'll have to get rid of the skrewts. Sorry… did I say worst? I meant best."**

"So true," Draco said.

"That's kind of creepy, a Weasley and a Malfoy getting along." Sirius said.

"You should see what happens in the future then." Keiran said.

"I don't want to know." Sirius said.

**Cris and Hermione laughed, and, feeling slightly more cheerful, went off to lunch.**

**Cris thoroughly enjoyed double Divination that afternoon;**

"Are you feeling all right?" Fred asked.

"Yes, I had Ron back and now we were enjoying the less enjoyable classes." Cris said.

"So true," Prongs said.

**they were still doing star charts and predictions, but now that she and Ron were friends once more, the whole thing seemed very funny again. Professor Trelawney, who had been so pleased with the pair of them when they had been predicting their own horrific deaths, quickly became irritated as they sniggered through her explanation of the various ways in which Pluto could disrupt everyday life.**

**"I would think," she said, in a mystical whisper that did not conceal her obvious annoyance, "that some of us" - she stared very meaningfully at Cris- "might be a little less frivolous had they seen what I have seen during my crystal gazing last night. As I sat here, absorbed in my needlework, the urge to consult the orb overpowered me. I arose, I settled myself before it, and I gazed into its crystalline depths… and what do you think I saw gazing back at me?" **

"Your horrifying reflection." Lily J said. The group laughed it took a while for them to calm down.

"I love your sense of humor." Teddy said kissing her forehead. Lily J blushed while Cris smiled at the pair of them.

**"An ugly old bat in outsize specs?" Ron muttered under his breath.**

The group laughed once again.

"You definitely get that from the twins." Mrs. Weasley said shaking her head.

"Or it was Bill and Charlie." Mr. Weasley suggested.

"True," she said.

**Cris fought hard to keep her face straight though her hair turned a blue color.**

**"Death, my dears."**

"Nothing new at all." Bill said.

"Can't she get a new act because that gets old?" James asked.

"How do you know?" Cris asked.

"My friend Brian is in her class and she did the same thing to this Ravenclaw, um Thomas, I think his name is." James said.

"Wow, now that's just sad." Neville said.

**Parvati and Lavender both put their hands over their mouths, looking horrified.**

**"Yes," said Professor Trelawney, nodding impressively, "it comes, ever closer, it circles overhead like a vulture, ever lower… ever lower over the castle…" She stared pointedly at Cris, who yawned very widely and obviously.**

**"It'd be a bit more impressive if she hadn't done it about eighty times before," Cris said as they finally regained the fresh air of the staircase beneath Professor Trelawney's room. "But if I'd dropped dead every time she's told me I'm going to, I'd be a medical miracle."**

**"You'd be a sort of extra-concentrated ghost," said Ron, chortling, as they passed the Bloody Baron going in the opposite direction, his wide eyes staring sinisterly.**

**"At least we didn't get homework. I hope Hermione got loads off Professor Vector, I love not working when she is…"**

"Love you too," Hermione said with smile.

"Sorry," Ron said. Hermione just smirked and kissed his cheek.

**But Hermione wasn't at dinner, nor was she in the library when they went to look for her afterward. The only person in there was Viktor Krum. Ron hovered behind the bookshelves for a while, watching Krum, debating in whispers with Cris whether he should ask for an autograph - but then Ron realized that six or seven girls were lurking in the next row of books, debating exactly the same thing, and he lost his enthusiasm for the idea.**

"That's what happens when you hang with girls." George said.

"Hey, I have guy friends!" Ron exclaimed.

**"Wonder where she's got to?" Ron said as he and Cris went back to Gryffindor Tower.**

**"Dunno… balderdash."**

**But the Fat Lady had barely begun to swing forward when the sound of racing feet behind them announced Hermione's arrival.**

**"Cris!" she panted, skidding to a halt beside her (the Fat Lady stared down at her, eyebrows raised. "Cris, you've got to come - you've got to come, the most amazing thing's happened- please -" **

"What is it?" Padfoot asked jumping up and down in his seat excitedly.

"He's going to be so disappointed." Cris whispered shaking her head.

**She seized Cris' arm and started to try to drag her back along the corridor. "What's the matter?" Cris said.**

**"I'll show you when we get there - oh come on, quick -"**

**Cris looked around at Ron; he looked back at Cris, intrigued.**

**"Okay," Cris said, starting off back down the corridor with Hermione, Ron hurrying to keep up.**

**"Oh don't mind me!" the Fat Lady called irritably after them. "Don't apologize for bothering me! I'll just hang here, wide open, until you get back, shall I?"**

"She is rather annoying." Gwen said.

"Just a bit." Remus said.

**"Yeah, thanks!" Ron shouted over his shoulder.**

**"Hermione, where are we going?" Cris asked, after she had led them down through six floors, and started down the marble staircase into the entrance hall.**

**"You'll see, you'll see in a minute!" said Hermione excitedly.**

**She turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through which Cedric Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire had regurgitated his and Cris' names. Cris had never been through here before. She and Ron followed Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one that led to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food. **

"The kitchens!" some of the group exclaimed.

"Finally," Prongs said.

"I'm surprised they didn't find it sooner with Ron being their friend." Moony said. Ron huffed while Cris and Hermione nodded in agreement.

**"Oh hang on…" said Cris slowly, halfway down the corridor. "Wait a minute, Hermione…"**

**"What?" She turned around to look at him, anticipation all over her face.**

**"I know what this is about," said Cris.**

**She nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.**

**"Hermione!" said Ron, catching on. "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again!"**

**"No, no, I'm not!" she said hastily. "And it's not spew, Ron -"**

**"Changed the name, have you?" said Ron, frowning at her. "What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation Front?**

"I like that title better." Ginny said.

"I know, I should have thought about the title better." Hermione said. Cris and Ron groaned but didn't say anything else.

**I'm not barging into that kitchen and trying to make them stop work, I'm not doing it -"**

**"I'm not asking you to!" Hermione said impatiently. "I came down here just now, to talk to them all, and I found - oh come on, Cris, I want to show you!"**

"What did she find?" Gwen asked.

"We're about to find out." Sirius said with a shrug.

**She seized her arm again, pulled her in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled the door open, and pushed Cris hard in the back, forcing her inside.**

**She had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, when something small hurtled toward her from the middle of the room, squealing, "Cristal Potter, miss! Cristal Potter!"**

"Dobby?!" the group asked, raising their eyebrows except for those who didn't know.

**Next second all the wind had been knocked out of her as the squealing elf hit her hard in the midriff, hugging her so tightly she thought her ribs would break.**

**"D-Dobby?" Cris gasped.**

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Lily asked.

"No mum, just knocked the wind out of me." Cris said.

"**It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice from somewhere around his navel. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Cristal Potter, miss, and Cristal Potter has come to see him, miss!"**

"'E zounds razer excited." Fleur said.

"That's how he is." Cris said.

**Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Cris, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He looked almost exactly as Cris remembered him; the pencil-shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and feet - all except the clothes, which were very different. When Dobby had worked for the Malfoy's, he had always worn the same filthy old pillowcase. Now, however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of garments Cris had ever seen; he had done an even worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the World Cup. He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks. **

"A free elf?" Viktor asked surprised.

"I tricked Draco's dad into freeing him." Cris said.

"Zat's a crazy elf." Fleur said.

"That he is." Cris said.

**One of these, Cris saw, was the black one Cris had removed from her own foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes. **

"He knows that it doesn't match right?" Gwen asked.

"He thinks it isn't supposed to match." Ron said with a shrug.

"Crazy elf," Teddy said with a chuckle.

**"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Cris said in amazement.**

**"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"**

**"Winky?" said Cris. "She's here too?"**

**"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Cris' hand and pulled her off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Each of these tables, Cris noticed as she passed them, was positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were clear of food, dinner having finished, but she supposed that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes that were then sent up through the ceiling to their counterparts above. **

"That's how it works." Sirius said nodding his head.

**At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Cris past them. They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied, as Winky's had been, like a toga.**

**Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.**

**"Winky, miss!" he said.**

**Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care other clothes at all. There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.**

"She isn't enjoying her freedom then." Gwen said.

"Nope, that's what normally happens." Remus said.

"So sad," Gwen said.

**"Hello, Winky," said Cris.**

**Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, just as they had done at the Quidditch World Cup.**

**"Oh dear," said Hermione. She and Ron had followed Cris and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. "Winky, don't cry, please don't…"**

**But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Cris.**

**"Would Cristal Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.**

**"Er - yeah, okay," said Cris. **

**Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind him, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Cris, Ron, and Hermione, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits. **

"I'm hungry." Ron, Sirius, Padfoot and Keiran said.

"We just ate." Hermione and Cris said.

"I'll make a snack later." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice. Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.**

**"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Cris asked as Dobby handed around the tea.**

**"Only a week. Cristal Potter, miss!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, miss. You see, miss, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, miss, very difficult indeed -"**

"Well yeah, most families don't want a house elf that's been paid." Draco said.

"That's sad." Gwen said.

**At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.**

**"Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!" **

"Good," Gwen said.

"No not good," Sirius said.

**The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing. Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"**

**"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Cristal Potter… Dobby likes being free!"**

"Odd thing for a house-elf." Tonks said.

"That's Dobby for you." Cris said.

**The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume other crying.**

**"And then, Cristal Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, miss!" said Dobby delightedly.**

**At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.**

**"And then Dobby had the idea. Cristal Potter, miss! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, miss! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, miss, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"**

"At least Winky has someplace." Gwen said.

"Very true," Cris said.

**Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again.**

**"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, miss, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, miss, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!" **

"To them, that's a lot." Scarlett said.

"Really?" Gwen asked.

"Yep, and he's very happy with that little galleon." Cris said.

**"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.**

"To them it is." Ginny repeated. The group chuckled a bit before George continued reading.

**"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss… Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."**

"I wish my kids helped a bit more." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Mum," the kids said.

"You have us grandkids to help you out." Lily J said.

"Well us older kids." Victoire said.

"Very true," Al said.

**"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly.**

**If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.**

**"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"**

"That's most house-elves." Robin said.

**"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you -"**

**But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"**

**"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Cristal Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it." **

**"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Cris asked.**

"Nope," the magical people said.

"That sucks." Gwen said.

**"Oh no, miss, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, miss. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them - though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to-"**

**Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Cris closer. Cris bent forward.**

**Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, miss!"**

"That sounds like Dumbledore." Sirius said shaking his head amusingly.

**Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.**

**"But Dobby is not wanting to, Cristal Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, miss, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."**

**"But you can say what you like about the Malfoy's now?" Cris asked him, grinning.**

**A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes.**

**"Dobby - Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Cristal Potter that his old masters were - were - bad Dark wizards'." **

"That's a given." Draco said.

**Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring - then he rushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"**

"Stop him!" Gwen shouted.

**Cris seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away from the table.**

**"Thank you. Cristal Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.**

**"You just need a bit of practice," Cris said.**

**"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"**

"But they aren't anymore." Hermione said.

**"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"**

**"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her… oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.**

**"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know -"**

"Don't tell her that." Bill said.

"I shouldn't have." Hermione said.

**"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"**

**"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges in the Triwizard Tournament."**

**"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Cris' great surprise (and Ron's and Hermione's too, by the looks on their faces), she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!" **

"I think she has them mixed up." Charlie said.

"You think?" James said.

**"Bagman - bad?" said Cris.**

**"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously, "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying… Winky - Winky keeps her master's secrets…"**

**She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!"**

"Does she ever get over him?" Gwen asked.

"I don't think she did." Cris said.

**They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.**

**"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Cristal Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest,**

**"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?"**

"So that's where it went." Ginny said.

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

"I get one every year, I thought that he wouldn't mind." Ron said.

"That's sweet of you." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Dobby was delighted.**

**"We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron told him, "but it'll go well with your tea cozy."**

**As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but Cris and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.**

"That's what they love." Keiran said.

"I know," Hermione said.

**"Thanks a lot!" Cris said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"**

**"Cristal Potter… can Dobby come and see you sometimes, miss?" Dobby asked tentatively.**

**"'Course you can," said Cris, and Dobby beamed.**

**"You know what?" said Ron, once he, Hermione, and Cris had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. "All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and George, nicking food from the kitchens - well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away!"**

"Exactly," Remus said.

**"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know," said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase. "Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them that they want that too!"**

**"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Cris.**

**"Oh she'll cheer up," said Hermione, though she sounded a bit doubtful. "Once the shock's worn off, and she's got used to Hogwarts, she'll see how much better off she is without that Crouch man." **

"Or she could continue to pine for him." Lily said.

"I think she did." Cris said.

"How sad." Gwen said.

**"She seems to love him," said Ron thickly (he had just started on a cream cake).**

"You so remind me of Sirius." Moony said.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Ron asked.

"A mixture of both I think." Robin said.

**"Doesn't think much of Bagman, though, does she?" said Cris. "Wonder what Crouch says at home about him?"**

**"Probably says he's not a very good Head of Department," said Hermione, "and let's face it… he's got a point, hasn't he?"**

**"I'd still rather work for him than old Crouch," said Ron. "At least Bagman's got a sense of humor."**

**"Don't let Percy hear you saying that," Hermione said, smiling slightly.**

**"Yeah, well, Percy wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humor, would he?" said Ron, now starting on a chocolate éclair. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy."**

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed.

"You know it's true," Ron said. Percy turned red and the group chuckled.

"That's the chapter." George said passing the book to James. James took it and opened the chapter and chuckled.

"What?" the group asked.


	26. Vote! Please

**Who should Cris go to the ball with? **

**Ron**

**Dean**

**Seamus **

**Fred**

**Please Vote and let me know!**


	27. Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task

"**Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task," **James read.

"What do you guys do now?" Lily asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Cris said.

"It wasn't that bad." Ginny said.

"**Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"**

**Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Cris and Ron both jumped and looked up.**

**It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers);**

"I suck at transfigurations." Neville said.

"Everybody has their strong suits." Lily said.

"Yeah, yours is Herbology." Lily J said smiling at her uncle.

**they had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"}.**

**The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Cris and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Cris, a rubber haddock.**

"Being in the boy's dorm has corrupted you." Ginny said shaking her head.

"What can I say; I'm more into guy stuff then girl stuff thanks to my aunt." Cris said with a shrug.

"Plus it's fun." Ron said.

**"****Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Cris' haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor - Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before - "I have something to say to you all.**

**"The Yule Ball is approaching -**

"A dance, that's what all this is about?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Cris said.

"This should be good." Prongs said with glee in his eyes.

"It's not funny, Draco even asked me to the ball." Cris said gesturing to the blonde Slytherin.

"Gah, bad image, very bad image!" Al exclaimed.

**a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"**

"But isn't it usually for fifth and above?" Tonks asked.

"Yes, but we made an exception because of young Cris." Dumbledore said.

**Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They looked around to Dean, Seamus and Ron.**

"I wouldn't go with either of those girls." Ron said with a disgusted look.

"Who did Ronnie end up going with?" Charlie asked.

"Wait and see." Cris and Ron said.

"It wasn't someone easy was it?" Bill asked.

"Nope," Ron said glancing at Cris.

**Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Cris thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off her and Ron.**

**"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"**

**Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.**

**"****The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.**

**Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Cris could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense. **

"You would be surprised." McGonagall said.

"I can't picture it." The group said.

**"****But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."**

**The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.**

**Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."**

**Assuming this had something to do with his headless rubber haddock,**

"I don't think it is pup." Sirius said.

"I know," Cris said blushing at the thought of the guys who asked her out.

**Cris proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, "Potter, the champions and their partners -"**

"Oohh, Crisy is going to be getting another date." Padfoot said.

"But with who?" Prongs asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, it's not someone bad." Fred said glancing at Ron.

"That's good." Lily said.

**"****What partners?" said Cris.**

**Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at her, as though she thought she was trying to be funny.**

"Nope," Cris said.

**"****Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."**

**Cris' insides seemed to curl up and shrivel.**

**"****Dance partners?" She felt herself going red. "I don't dance," she said quickly.**

"You danced pretty well though." George said.

"Thanks," Cris said blushing.

**"****Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."**

**Cris had a sudden mental image of herself in a frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties. **

"Oh, I agree with you, I wouldn't want to wear some frilly dress." Tonks said with a disgusted look.

"Your dress wasn't frilly was it?" Lily asked. Cris shook her head, her dress was absolutely gorgeous.

**"I'm not dancing," she said.**

**"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."**

**"But-I don't-"**

**"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.**

**A week ago Cris would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that she had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of asking a guy to the ball, she thought she'd rather have another round with the dragon.**

"Any guy would go if you asked them." Padfoot said looking at her.

"Um thanks," Cris said. Cris felt a little awkward at the thought.

"Ignore your godfather Cris." Lily said. Cris nodded and motioned for her son to continue.

**Cris had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; she always did, of course, because the alternative was usually going back to Privet Drive, **

"I don't ever want to go back there." Cris muttered.

"And you won't be." Fred whispered in her ear as George kissed her head.

**but she had always been very much in the minority before now. This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Cris to be obsessed with the coming ball - or at least all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; she had never quite noticed that before. Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night…**

**"Why do they have to move in packs?" She heard Ron ask to Dean and Seamus one day. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"**

"**What about Cris, has anyone asked her out?" Seamus asked. Cris looked over at them from the table she was sitting at with Hermione and Ginny. She looked back at the two girls wide eyed as they stared over at the boys in shock. **

"I can't believe you heard that." Ron said blushing.

"Then you shouldn't have talked that loudly about it with us nearby." Hermione said with a smile.

"**Are they seriously still going on about that?" Ginny asked in a whisper.**

"**Seems like it," Hermione said. **

"**Has anyone asked you out?" Cris asked. Both girls blushed brightly and nodded. "Who?" **

"**Neville," Ginny said.**

"**That's sweet," Cris said with a smile. "What about you Mione?" **

"**It's a surprise," Hermione said. Cris shook her head and looked down.**

"**I still don't have a date," Cris said.**

"**Really, nobody's asked you yet?" Ginny asked.**

The group sat forward slightly to hear who all has asked her.

"**A few have, they just weren't my type." Cris said blushing slightly.**

"**And what is you type Cris?" Hermione asked leaning forward with a smile. **

"**Maybe a tall blue-eyed red head." Ginny said wiggling her eyebrows with a smile. Cris blushed even more and looked down at her homework once more.**

"**Aw but which one," Hermione asked with a grin. **

"**Shut up, or I'll tell Ron about your crush on him." Cris said with a grin. **

"**You wouldn't dare." Hermione hissed. Cris was about to stand up when Hermione grabbed her arm and forced her back down in her chair. **

"Oh god, you're just like your father." Lily said with a smile.

"I did that to Sirius and Remus." Prongs said.

"I remember that," Robin said with a smile at the memory.

**Cris looked back over at the guys who were still talking loud enough for her to hear. **

"**What about you two, who do you have a date yet?" Ron asked.**

"**No one yet." Seamus said. Cris saw him look up at her and winked at her. Cris went wide eyed and looked away quickly trying to figure out what he was thinking. **

"**I asked Lavender and she said she'd go with me." Dean said proudly. Cris looked back over to see Dean blushing slightly. "What about you mate?" **

"**Nobody yet," Ron said gloomily. Cris felt bad for him, he is her best friend after all and she knew for a fact that he liked Hermione as well, she could hear him muttering about her in his sleep. **

Ron blushed so brightly Cris thought that if the lights went out you would still be able to see him.

"That is why you should always be careful." Bill said with a laugh.

"I didn't know you talked in your sleep." Hermione said.

"He does as well as snores." Cris said with a chuckle.

"**You know Cris; you won't have any problem, just make the right choice for those who ask you." Ginny said. **

"**Thanks Gin," Cris said hugging her friend standing up to go up to her dorm looking at her dorm mates one last time. Seamus and Ron were looking at her with smiles, she knew that they were only friends but it kind of unnerved her a bit. Of course that was nothing to what she was going to go through the next day.**

The group perked up a bit, wanting to know who would ask her.

**The next day many guys asked her out. One a Ravenclaw sixth year she had no idea what his name was, another one was Colin, she felt really bad for turning him down and too her horror Draco Malfoy came up to her during lunch. **

"Oh my god," Lily said.

"I was totally freaked." Cris said.

"Anybody would be." Sirius said.

"**Potter," Malfoy said snidely but not that snidely for Cris to notice that it was a little forced. **

"**What do you want now?" Cris asked not bothering to look up from a piece of homework she was looking over.**

"**Do you want to go to the ball with me?" he asked. Cris was in the middle of a drink and dropped the cup and looked up at Malfoy with shock. **

"**W-what?" Cris asked her eyes wide. The hall became eerily quiet and Cris could tell that everyone was watching them. **

"**I'm not askin again," Malfoy said his cheeks tinted pink. All Cris could do was stare than stood up so fast and ran out of the hall and up to Gryffindor tower away from Malfoy and the staring eyes. **

"I was shocked; I've never seen him act so normal." Cris said.

"And I've never seen you run so fast." Draco countered.

"Mum runs very fast when she wants to." Lily J said.

"**Cris, what's wrong?" Ron asked as she ran into the dormitory. Cris shook her head catching her breath wishing she had a glass of water. Hermione and Ginny soon came back through the portrait hole not long later with shock still on their faces and Cris' bag slung over Hermione's shoulder. **

"**What happened?" Ron asked them. **

"**Malfoy asked her to the ball." Ginny said. Ron gaped at his sister then turned to Hermione and Cris. **

"**It's true, I was shocked, he acted so normal and timid." Cris said. **

"**I can't picture that." Ron said. **

"**I've never seen Cris run so fast." Ginny said collapsing in the opposite chair. **

"**I panicked, what else was I going to do, everyone in the hall was staring at me." Cris said. "Thanks for grabbing my bag Hermione." Hermione smiled and the three of them left for their next class.**

"You had no idea how much many of the guys wanted to punch you." Ron said to Draco.

"I bet," Draco said shivering a bit.

**On the whole, Crus had to admit that even with the embarrassing prospect of opening the ball before her, life had definitely improved since she had got through the first task. She wasn't attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which she suspected had a lot to do with Cedric - she had an idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave Cris alone, in gratitude for Cris' tipoff about the dragons. **

"That was nice of him." Lily said.

"He was sweet." Cris said sadly.

**There seemed to be fewer Support Cedric Diggory! badges around too. Draco Malfoy, since the afternoon in the Great Hall he went back to quoting Rita Skeeter's article to her at every possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it - and just to heighten Cris' feeling of well-being, no story about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet.**

"But why do I have a feeling that something is going to come up?" Lily asked.

"Because that's Rita for you." Padfoot said with a disgusted face.

**"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said, when Cris, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts. **

"At least you would be safe now." Lily said.

"You would think." Cris said.

"Great," Mrs. Weasley said.

**"She jus' wanted me ter talk about you, Cris," Hagrid continued in a low voice. "Well, I told her we'd been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursley's. 'Never had to tell her off in four years?' she said. 'Never played you up in lessons, has she?' I told her no, an she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Cris."**

"Of course she did." Sirius said growling.

"Crazy woman." Prongs said.

**"'Course she did," said Cris, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up her knife to cut some more. "She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring."**

**"She wants a new angle, Hagrid," said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs. "You were supposed to say Cris' a mad delinquent!" Cris threw a look his way telling him to shut up.**

"Take the hint little brother." Charlie said.

**"But she's not!" said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked.**

**"She should've interviewed Snape," said Cris grimly. "He'd give her the goods on me any day. 'Potter has been crossing lines ever since she first arrived at this school… '"**

**"Said that, did he?" said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed. "Well, yeh might've bent a few rules. Cris, bu' yeh're all righ' really, aren' you?"**

**"Cheers, Hagrid," said Cris, grinning.**

**"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" said Ron.**

**"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly.**

"With a certain tall French headmaster." Padfoot said wiggling his eyebrows.

"No kidding," Keiran said.

**"Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be openin the dancin', won yeh, Cris? Who're you takin'?"**

**"No one, yet," said Cris, feeling herself going red again. Hagrid didn't pursue the subject.**

"That's the good thing about Hagrid, he doesn't push when he knows it isn't a good subject." Moony said.

"He is a good friend to have." Hermione said.

"Yep," Lily J said.

**The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Crus didn't believe half of them - for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta.**

"Wow, that would have been fun." George said.

"No it wouldn't," Mrs. Weasley said glaring at the twins.

**It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters.**

"Sweet!" Tonks exclaimed.

"Not now Tonks," Charlie said with a smile.

**Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Cris didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but she deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.**

**Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday,**

"Flitwick always was like this." Lily said.

"Still is," James said.

"He's still there?" Prongs said raising an eyebrow.

"Yep, though I think he is getting ready to retire." Lily J said.

"He is, I have no clue who will be taking his place." Al said.

**and spent most of it talking to Cris about the perfect Summoning Charm Cris had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's cauldron-bottom report. **

"I don't know whether or not that's a compliment." Percy said.

"I don't think it was sorry," Cris said.

**Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Cris.**

Cris involuntarily shivered at the thought.

"That would be horrible." Cris said.

"I don't blame you." James said.

"Who wouldn't," Keiran said looking over at the potion's master.

**Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.**

**"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."**

"Sadly that is what happens at the end of term." Prongs said.

"You can't afford it in the Muggle world." Gwen said.

"Yeah," Lily J said.

"How would you know?" Fred asked.

"Mum put us all in Muggle School before we started Hogwarts; she thought it would be best for us." Al said.

"I would have put her in a Muggle School before Hogwarts as well." Lily said.

**"Mmm… you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack - a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.**

"Interesting," Gwen said.

"Seamus burned his eyebrows off many times." Cris said with a laugh.

"Yep, and we've had to put him out many times." Ron said with another laugh.

**"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Cris lazily; she was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire. Hermione looked severely over at her too.**

**"I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Cris, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"**

**"Like what?" Cris said as she watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.**

**"That egg!" Hermione hissed.**

**"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Cris said.**

"Besides you have no idea where to start with it." Prongs said.

"But that doesn't mean she can't work on it." Lily said.

"I got a clue," Cris said with a smile.

"Good," Padfoot said.

**She had put the golden egg upstairs in her trunk and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until she needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.**

**"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"**

**"Leave her alone, Hermione, hse's earned a bit of a break," said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.**

**"Nice look Ron… go well with your dress robes, that will."**

"Or dear, you're channeling your father again." Lily said.

"I like when she's channeling me, it's funny." Prongs said.

"For some people maybe." Lily said though she thought it was funny as well.

**It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Cris, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done.**

**"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.**

**"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"**

**"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically.**

Cris rolled her eyes and kissed them.

"I love your sense of humor sometimes." Cris said.

"Thank you,"

"Dear Bambi,"

**"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.**

"George, don't call your brother that!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

"Sorry mum," George said looking down.

**"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.**

**"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred,**

"Good grief, you guys really don't want anyone to find out." Bill said.

"Whoever it is sure is going to get a nasty prank their way." Charlie said.

"No kidding," Cris said thinking back to that time.

**waving his wand threateningly. "So… you lot got dates for the ball yet?"**

"Well do you have dates?" Padfoot asked.

"Not at that moment no." George said.

"So who do you guys go with?" Prongs asked.

"You'll find out I expect." Hermione said.

**"Nope," said Ron.**

**"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.**

**"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.**

**"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.**

"Did you already ask her out?" Tonks asked. Fred blushed but Cris laughed.

"This next scene is hilarious." Cris said.

"This should be good then." Prongs said.

**"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"**

**"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oy! Angelina!"**

"Good grief, now that reminds so much of you Prongs." Moony said.

"Yes, that sure does." Robin said.

**Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.**

**"What?" she called back.**

**"Want to come to the ball with me?"**

**Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.**

**"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face. Cris' heart dropped a bit and turned to George. **

"**Do you have a date yet?" she asked. **

"**Yeah, I asked Alicia yesterday." George said though he looked at her like he was sad about something. **

"We can't hide anything from her." George said.

"Yep," Cris said with a smile.

"You should see them in the future." Lily J said.

"It is quite funny." Keiran said with a laugh.

"I can see that." Sirius said.

**"There you go," said Fred to Ron, "piece of cake."**

"Though it was really rude." Robin said.

"It's the twins, what do you expect?" Remus asked.

"True," Robin said.

**He got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on…"**

**They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Cris.**

**"We should get a move on, you know… ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls." **

**Cris glared at him she was obviously feeling a little put out about Fred and George going with different girls. She didn't know what to do; she was contemplating just asking Ron or Seamus but just as friends.**

"Ah," Lily said.

**Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.**

**"A pair of… what, excuse me?"**

**"Well - you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with – with Eloise Midgen, say."**

**"Her acne's loads better lately - and she's really nice!" Cris said.**

**"Her nose is off-center," said Ron**

"Man you are so asking to be hit." Gwen said.

"I almost was." Ron said grimacing and looking over at Cris.

**"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"**

**"Er - yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron.**

"**You are such a pig sometimes." Cris said. She wanted nothing more than to hit him right at that moment.**

"I'm glad you didn't." Ron said. Cris just smiled at him but didn't say anything else.

**"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.**

**The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up. Cris noticed that they were the most stunning she had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.**

"That sounds about right." Padfoot said.

"They were quite funny at first." Cris said.

"I bet," Keiran said.

**And Cris still hadn't figured out who to ask, Ron or Seamus. 'What in the world should I do?' she thought to herself. **

"Flip a coin." Gwen suggested.

"That's what Hermione and Ginny said." Cris said with a laugh.

"Did you really do that?" Tonks asked. They nodded and James continued reading.

**She and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Cris pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Cris was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.**

**"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," he said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.**

"That would have been funny." Charlie said.

"I would have been laughing my butt off." Padfoot said.

"I know." Lily said.

"**Have you gotten a date yet?" Ron asked. Cris looked over at him and shook her head. She looked at him with calculating eyes trying to figure out what he was thinking. **

"**Why do you ask?" Cris asked. Ron looked away looking slightly red. **

"**No reason," Ron said. Though Cris didn't really believe him she just looked at him and he walked over to Seamus and Dean once again. Cris went over to Hermione and Ginny once again. **

"**What's up with him?" Ginny asked as she watched her brother going over to the guys. **

"**No idea, he was acting weird." Cris said.**

"**Do you have a date yet?" Hermione asked. **

"**No, I'm thinking at this point that the guy I do ask will be just as friends." Cris said. **

"**That's not a bad idea." Ginny said. **

"**Who are you planning to ask?" Hermione asked.**

"**Seamus or Ron," Cris said shrugging her shoulders.**

"**I would go with Ron because then he wouldn't be tempted to feel you up." Ginny said. **

"**Thanks for that Ginny," Cris said. **

"**Come on, we'll be late for class." Hermione said. Cris grabbed her bag and followed Hermione to the next class. **

"Sounds about right." Prongs said.

"Padfoot does that from time to time." Moony said.

"I believe it," Cris said.

**The rest of the day went by nervously as Cris watched Ron and Seamus looking over at her throughout the day. She had a feeling that she was going to be asked by one of them and she had no idea who. **

"Who asked you?" Lily asked.

"Wait and find out." Cris said.

"No fair," the marauders said.

"**I don't know what to do." She told Hermione during dinner.**

"**About what?" she asked in between bites.**

"**About Ron and Seamus, they've been watching me all day." **

"**I bet that's a little unnerving," Hermione said. Cris nodded and as they finished they left the hall. They walked together up to the Gryffindor tower discussing class and homework.**

**"Fairy lights," they said to the Fat Lady - the password had been changed the previous day.**

**"Yes, indeed, dears!" she trilled, straightening her new tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him.**

**Entering the common room, Cris looked around, and to her surprise she saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice. **

Ron and Fleur blushed brightly at what was about to be brought up.

**"What's up, Ron?" said Cris, joining them.**

**Ron looked up at Cris, a sort of blind horror in his face.**

**"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"**

"What happened?" Scarlett asked.

"I think I remember what happened but I don't exactly know." Keiran said.

**"What?" said Cris.**

**"He - er - just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. **

"No way, you asked her?" Victoire asked.

"I had no idea." Bill said looking at his girlfriend.

"'E ran before I could answer." Fleur said.

**She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.**

**"You what?' said Cris.**

**"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people - all around - I've gone mad - everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall - she was standing there talking to Diggory - and it sort of came over me - and I asked her!"**

"Eet was pretty funny." Fleur said. Ron was still blushing brightly and looking down at his lap.

**Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable.**

**"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then - I dunno - I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."**

**"She's part Veela," said Cris. "You were right - her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it - but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."**

**Ron looked up.**

**"She told me in passing to get me riled up I bet," Cris said dully.**

**Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.**

**"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone - well, except Neville. Hey - guess who he asked? Hermione!"**

Neville blushed while Ginny patted his arm.

"It's alright sweetie," Ginny said kissing his cheek.

**"He's going with Ginny though." said Cris, completely distracted by this startling news.**

**"Wait, what!" said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff - but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville… I mean, who would?" **

"Hey!" Neville said.

"Sorry, I was kind of put out by all this." Ron said raising his arms in defeat.

**"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh -"**

**Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.**

**"Why weren't you two at dinner?" she said, coming over to join them.**

**"Because - oh shut up laughing, you two - because Ron just been turned down by a girl they asked to the ball!" said Ginny.**

**That shut Ron up.**

**"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione loftily. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you. I mean, there is still Cris she still doesn't have a date." Cris gave her a glare that would have killed her if looks could kill**

**But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.**

**"Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl…"**

"Seriously Ron, you really need to think things through more." Remus said.

"I have no idea how you even got married to begin with." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.**

**"Well - you can come with either me or Seamus!"**

**"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.**

"Oohh, you got told." Al said with a chuckle. Ron turned to glare at his nephew.

**"Oh come on," he said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…"**

**"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."**

**"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"**

"**Yes she is Ronald, really open your ears and listen for once, Neville is going with Ginny and Hermione was going with someone who she is keeping a surprise." Cris snapped. Ron turned to her and gaped hearing her for once. **

"It was like she was channeling someone else." Ron said.

"That would be her mother." Remus said with a smile.

"Yeah, that is something I would have done." Lily said.

**Cris stood up and walked over to Seamus and Dean giving Seamus a warm smile in which he returned to her. **

"**What's up Cris?" Seamus asked. **

"**Are you still having problems finding a date?" she asked with a grin.**

"**Are you asking me?" he asked with a cocky grin.**

"**Yeah, but just as friends alright." He nodded and she spotted Lavender and Pavarti over by the fire and walked over to them. **

"You didn't." Ron said gapping.

"You are my friend that's what friends are for." Cris said.

"You are a good friend." Lily said.

"**Pavarti, got a favor to ask you." Cris said plopping down next to them.**

"**What's up?" she asked quirking an eyebrow. **

"**Do you have a date for the ball yet?" **

"**I didn't know you swung that way." Lavender said. **

The group laughed as Cris blushed greatly but laughed as well.

"That's what she thought?" Teddy asked.

"Apparently." Cris said.

"**I don't, I'm going with Seamus but Ron needs a date, will you go with him?" she asked. **

"**Alright, but on one condition." Pavarti said. **

"**What?" Cris asked it was now her turn to quirk an eyebrow.**

"**We get to do your hair and make-up for the ball." Lavender said. Cris bit her lip and looked over at Ron who still looked distraught. Cris nodded suddenly filled with dread but decided to trust them. **

"**Alright, you have a deal." Cris said. **

"**What's the color of your dress?" Lavender asked. **

"**Green," Cris muttered. Lavender nodded and her and Pavarti went to talking about what they were going to do to her.**

"That was a risk." Victoire said.

"I know." Cris said.

"But it was worth it." Hermione said. Cris had looked absolutely beautiful that night; the two of them did a great job.

**She walked over to Ron and told him the news, he smiled gratefully at her and they decided go to bed for the night.**

"That's the chapter," James said handing the book to Al.

"That was certainly interesting," Prongs said.

"Was your dress pretty?" Lily asked.

"Absolutely gorgeous," Ginny and Hermione said.

"Thank you Molly," Lily said. Mrs. Weasley nodded and Al started the next chapter.


	28. Chapter 23: The Yule Ball

"**Chapter 23: The Yule Ball," **Al read with a smile.

"Ooohhh, I wonder what Lavender and Pavarti does to you." Lily J said.

"She did look stunning." Hermione and Ginny said.

"So did the two of you." Cris said.

**Despite the very heavy load of homework that the fourth years had been given for the holidays Cris was in no mood to work when term ended, and spent the week leading up to Christmas enjoying herself as fully as possible along with everyone else.**

"Everybody was, it was kind of funny." Ginny said.

"But I bet it was worth it." Scarlett said.

"Yep," the three girls said.

**Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place. Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the center, and George confided to Cris that he and Fred were now working on developing something else. Cris made a mental note never to accept so much as a crisp from Fred and George in future. She still hadn't forgotten Dudley and the Ton-Tongue Toffee.**

"Who would?" Keiran asked.

"Vhat?" Viktor asked.

"These two dropped a treat and my cousin ate it, his tongue changed to purple and grew to almost five feet before Mr. Weasley was able to shrink it." Cris said with a shrug.

"Why wouldn't zey let Monsieur Weasley shrink eet?" Fleur asked.

"My aunt and uncle hate everything to do with magic so they thought that Mr. Weasley was going to curse them badly instead of help them." Cris said.

"Zat's sad." Fleur said.

**Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savory puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about. **

**"****It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Cris, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). **

"I can't believe you hid behind her, she wasn't that tall at the time." George said. Cris sent a glare his way shutting him up instantly.

"I may not have been as tall as you two but I grew a few inches over the summer before that year so I was slightly taller than Ginny." Cris said.

"That's not saying much." Neville said. Cris glared at him and pouted.

"What is this, pick on Cris day?" she asked.

"Yep," the group said. Cris pouted once again and Al started reading again.

**"****I will not fit into my dress robes!"**

"That would have been bad." Lily said nodding her head in agreement.

"Zat is what I was worried about." Fleur said.

"Understandable." Victoire said.

**"****Oooh there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"**

"Sorry," Hermione said sincerely. Fleur gave her a smile.

"Eet is okay, 'Ermione, I know zat you did not mean eet." Fleur said. Hermione smiled back at her.

**"Hermione - who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron.**

**He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me."**

**"****You're joking, Weasley!" said Malfoy, behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Mudblood?**

The group turned to glare once again at Draco.

"I'm sorry," Draco said.

"It's fine, you were already changing then but still kind of acting the same." Luna said patting his arm affectionately and kissing his cheek. Draco's cheeks tinged pink somewhat and Al continued reading.

**Cris and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Malfoy's shoulder, "Hello, Professor Moody!"**

"Nice one, you would make a good Marauder." Padfoot said with a laugh.

"She is pretty smart." Lily said.

**Malfoy went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew.**

**"****Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" said Hermione scathingly, **

"You have been hanging around Cris and Ron too long." Mrs. Weasley said shaking her head with a smile.

"Actually she reminds me of a combination of Moony and Lily." Sirius said. He then turned to Remus who just glared at him.

"I'm his only son, Uncle Padfoot, you should know that." Teddy said with a smile.

"Or maybe Robin?" Padfoot asked.

"No, this is my first pregnancy." Robin said rubbing her swollen stomach.

**and she, Cris, and Ron went up the marble staircase laughing heartily.**

**"****Hermione," said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth…" **

"What about them?" Lily J asked suddenly confused.

"I don't know." James said with a shrug.

**"****What about them?" she said.**

**"****Well, they're different… I've just noticed…"**

**"****Of course they are - did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?"**

**"****No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you… They're all… straight and - and normal-sized."**

"You are sneaky." Lily said.

"My parents weren't too happy about it but they got used to it." Hermione said with a shrug.

"I bet," Remus said with a chuckle.

**Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and Cris noticed it too: It was a very different smile from the one she remembered.**

**"****Well… when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just… let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely. **

"That's one way to do it." Padfoot said.

"I've always wondered why you didn't smile in the pictures of you from fourth to first." Lily J said.

"Yeah, I tended to not show my teeth much when I smiled." Hermione said.

"You do a lot now." Cris said.

**"Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should - look! Pigwidgeon's back!"**

"Nice and subtle." Bill said.

"Yea, Sirius' answer." Prongs said.

**Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?"**

"He is," Ginny said nodding her head.

"He actually calmed down a lot." Victoire said.

"Finally," Ron said.

**"Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. "You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!"**

"You have a very weird owl." Prongs said.

"I know, I blame Sirius." Ron said looking at the adult dog animagus. Sirius just grinned at him but didn't do anything else as Al continued reading.

**Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron's fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked.**

**"Clear off!" Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. "Here - take it, Cris," Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalized. He pulled Sirius's reply off Pigwidgeon's leg. Cris pocketed it, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it.**

**Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Ron, Cris, and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Cris read out:**

_**Dear Cris,**_

_**Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! **_

_**I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitus Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point –**_

"That's what I was going to suggest." Charlie said.

**"That's what Krum did!" Hermione whispered –**

_**But your way was better, I'm impressed.**_

_**Don't get complacent, though, Cris. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open -particularly when the person we discussed is around and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble. Keep in touch; I still want to hear about anything unusual.**_

"Good advice," Lily said.

"Don't be so surprised." Sirius said.

"Siri actually gave me really good advice." Cris said with a smile.

_**Sirius**_

**"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Cris quietly, tucking the letter away again inside her robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls…"**

"I would like to see that." Ron said.

"How about I make it so you can't see and watch as you bounce off walls." Cris retorted with a glare.

"Sorry," Ron said raising his hands in defeat.

"You better be," Cris said.

**"But he's right, Cris," said Hermione, "you have still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means…"**

**"Hermione, she's got ages!" snapped Ron. "Want a game of chess, Cris?"**

"I'm the only one willing to play, personally I think a good game would be between you and either Remus or McGonagall." Cris said.

"That would be a good game." Sirius said.

"I'll play you later." Remus promised. Ron smiled and nodded.

"I can't wait." Ron said with a grin.

**"Yeah, okay," said Cris. Then, spotting the look on Hermione's face, she said, "Come on, how am I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot." **

"Actually I think it would make the noise die." James said.

"Probably." Cris said.

**"Oh I suppose not," she sighed, and she sat down to watch their chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop.**

**Cris awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. Wondering what had caused her abrupt return to consciousness, she opened her eyes, and saw something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at her in the darkness, so close they were almost nose to nose.**

"What's Dobby doing there?" Prongs asked.

"Isn't it obvious Grandpa, to wish mum a happy Christmas." James said.

"I'm too young to be a grandpa." Prongs whined. The group chuckled as Lily patted his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

**"Dobby!" Cris yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast she almost fell out of bed. "Don't do that!"**

**"Dobby is sorry, miss!" squeaked Dobby anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Cristal Potter 'Happy Christmas' and bring her a present, miss! Cristal Potter did say Dobby could come and see her sometimes, miss!"**

**"It's okay," said Cristal, still breathing rather faster than usual, while her heart rate returned to normal. "Just - just prod me or something in the future, all right, don't bend over me like that…"**

**Cris pulled back the curtains around her four-poster, took her glasses from her bedside table, and put them on. Her yell had awoken Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavy-eyed and tousle-haired.**

"They were all so adorable." Cris said with a smile.

"What about you with your tangled messy hair." Neville said.

"I would like to see you have long hair." Cris said.

"I manage it just fine." Bill and Charlie said as they ran their hands through their hair.

"I wish you would let me cut it." Mrs. Weasley sighed.

"NO!" the two cried.

**"Someone attacking you, Cris?" Seamus asked sleepily.**

**"No, it's just Dobby," Cris muttered. "Go back to sleep."**

"They probably won't, it's Christmas." Mr. Weasley said.

"No kidding, though I wanted to go back to sleep." Cris said.

"Sorry," Ron and Neville said.

**"Nah… presents!" said Seamus, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed. Ron, Dean, and Neville decided that now they were awake they might as well get down to some present-opening too. Cris turned back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next to Cris' bed, still looking worried that he had upset Cris. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cozy.**

**"Can Dobby give Cristal Potter her present?" he squeaked tentatively.**

**"'Course you can," said Cris. "Er… I've got something for you too."**

"Did you really?" Padfoot asked.

"No, I forgot." Cris said.

"Then what did you give him?" Lily asked.

"Socks," the trio said.

**It was a lie; she hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all, but she quickly opened her trunk and pulled out a particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. They were her oldest and foulest, mustard yellow, and had once belonged to Uncle Vernon. The reason they were extra-knobbly was that Cris had been using them to cushion her Sneakoscope for over a year now. **

"Oh yeah, because it kept going off all the bloody time." Ron said.

"Probably because of the rat." Cris said.

"What rat?" Fudge asked.

"My pet rat was actually Peter Pettigrew. We found out at the end of our third year." Ron said.

"Lies," Umbridge muttered under her breath but continued to listen.

**She pulled out the Sneakoscope and handed the socks to Dobby, saying, "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them…"**

"I think he'll love them anyway." Sirius said.

"From what mum said he did." Lily J said. Cris looked at her with that thinking that Dobby had died.

**But Dobby was utterly delighted.**

"See," Sirius said.

**"Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, miss!" he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's. "I has seven now, miss… But miss…" he said, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, "they has made a mistake in the shop, Cristal Potter, they is giving you two the same!"**

"So he thinks that mix-match socks are normal?" Gwen asked with amusement evident in her voice.

"Yeah, he is crazy but is a very good friend." Cris said with a friend.

**"Ah, no, Cris, how come you didn't spot that?" said Ron, grinning over from his own bed, which was now strewn with wrapping paper. "Tell you what, Dobby - here you go - take these two, and you can mix them up properly. And here's your sweater."**

**He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the hand-knitted sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent, Dobby looked quite overwhelmed.**

"That's kind of you." Mrs. Weasley said with a smile.

**"Sir is very kind!" he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron. "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Cristal Potter's greatest friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless -"**

**"They're only socks," said Ron, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same. "Wow, Cris -" He had just opened Cris' present, a Chudley Cannon hat. "Cool!" He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair.**

"I really wanted to give him something else but I knew he would love that the most." Cris said.

"Yeah, though the orange did clash horribly." Hermione said.

**Dobby now handed Cris a small package, which turned out to be - socks.**

**"Dobby is making them himself, miss!" the elf said happily. "He is buying the wool out of his wages, miss!"**

**The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.**

"That's sweet of him." Lily said.

"I still wear them every now and then." Cris said.

"I wouldn't mind a pair of Quidditch socks." Prongs said.

**"They're… they're really… well, thanks, Dobby," said Cris, and she pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.**

**"Dobby must go now, miss, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dobby, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Ron and the others as he passed.**

**Cris' other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's odd socks – with the obvious exception of the Dursley's, which consisted of a single tissue,**

"That's totally disgusting." Lily said.

"I get used to it." Cris said.

**an all-time low - Cris supposed they too were remembering the Ton-Tongue Toffee.**

**Hermione had given Cris a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland; **

"Your friends do know you very well." Prongs said.

"Yep," Cris said.

**Ron, a bulging bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot;**

"I wondered where that went to." Robin said with a laugh.

**and Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Cris' favorites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's usual package, including a new sweater (green, with a picture of a dragon on it - Cris supposed Charlie had told her all about the Horntail), and a large quantity of homemade mince pies.**

**Cris and Ron met up with Hermione in the common room, and they went down to breakfast together. They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.**

"I'm hungry," Ron, Padfoot, Sirius and Keiran said.

"Didn't we just eat?" Gwen asked.

"Don't mind them, they think with their stomachs." Hermione said.

"I find all guys do that." Gwen said thinking of her older brothers.

**They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch Cris and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock said she and Cris went back upstairs to get ready for the ball.**

"Do you really need that much time?" Bill asked.

"You'd be surprised." Cris said.

"**What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at them incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head. "Who're you going with?" he yelled after Hermione, but they just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle. **

"Someone she wants to look good for." Tonks said with a smile.

"**What do you think Lavender and Pavarti have planned to me?" Cris asked Hermione as they climbed the marble staircases.**

"**I don't know, I keep asking them but they won't tell me." Hermione said. Cris' stomach knotted in apprehension. When they walked into the Common Room Lavender and Pavarti grabbed her and dragged upstairs to the dorm.**

"**Hello dear Cris, where's your dress?" Lavender asked as they forced her into a chair next to Lavender's bed. **

"**In my trunk, Mione can you go get it?" Cris asked. Hermione smiled and nodded and left to go and get it. She came back moments later with the carefully folded dress. **

"**Alright, that dress will definitely bring out your eyes." Pavarti said as she took off her glasses. **

"That it did," Ginny said with a smile.

"**That is absolutely beautiful, alright, down to business I say we start with her hair then do her make-up." Pavarti said running her fingers through Cris' untamed hair. **

"**How is it always this untame?" Lavender asked pulling out a brush and her wand and a bag of make-up from her trunk.**

"**Professor Lupin says I get it from my dad, they used to be the best of friends and is like my uncle, that's why he seemed familiar to me last year." Cris said with a shrug.**

"**That's got to be nice, having someone to tell you about your parents." Lavender said with a small smile. Cris nodded and let them do her hair. It seemed to take forever as they curled and started pinning strands of hair up to make up intricate swirls on her head, as well as loose curls going down her back.**

"Sounds really beautiful," Lily said.

"It was," Cris said.

"**Now do me a favor Cris, try not to change your hair color." Pavarti said. **

"**I can't really control it." Cris said. **

"**I know, but try to keep it black; it's really beautiful like that." Lavender said. Cris nodded as Lavender opened up her make-up bag. **

"**Have you ever worn make-up before?" she asked. Cris shook her head sheepishly and Lavender gave her a smile and got to work. Cris fought hard not to blink as they put on eyeliner and mascara. She had no idea what color eye-shadow Lavender put on but knew that whatever color it was it would make her eyes pop. **

"You know now that I think about it, Lavender and Pavarti were the perfect girls to have help you." Hermione said.

"I know, it was really a part of my plan." Cris said with a wink.

"Of course it was." Hermione said shaking her head.

**Pavarti was starting on her make-up as Lavender was looking at her studying her handiwork. Cris felt uneasy shifting uncomfortably in the chair. **

"**Do you have your ears pierced?" she asked. Cris nodded, Gwen had pierced them for her this last summer as well as the contacts and the new clothes. Lavender smiled and dug in her trunk again and pulled out silver hoops the size of galleons. Lavender put them in and stepped back once again studying her and nodding in satisfaction. **

"**It's almost time, and you need to put on the dress and the black heels." Lavender said. Cris nodded and changed clothes, the dress hugged her curves and had a single sleeve slung over her shoulder and crossed over back to the other side. The dress went down all the way to her ankles and had a sweet heart top with a strip of silver and green. All in all she thought she looked like she belonged in Slytherin but she loved it nonetheless. **

"I bet she looked gorgeous, Lily always did in green." Prongs said. Lily blushed brightly and Cris smiled.

"Glad you agree." Cris said.

**Cris sat back down and grabbed the shoes that Lavender let her borrow; she was going to be wearing the silver pumps with her pink dress. The black shoes gave her two more inches of height and it hooked around her ankle as she buckled them on. She prayed to whoever listened that she wouldn't fall and break her neck. Smiling she tested them out now wondering where in the world Hermione was, she hadn't seen her since she gave her the dress. **

**It was almost time, so she descended the staircase to where Seamus was waiting for her. He looked handsome in the dark blue dress robes that almost matched his eyes. He looked at her and his eyes popped as he looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. **

"**Cris? You look absolutely gorgeous." Seamus said taking her hand. Cris blushed and looked him in the eyes and brought his up to meet hers. **

"**You're not so bad yourself." Cris said with a smile. She glanced up and saw Ron coming down the staircase and looked at Cris like he never saw her before.**

"Did you really not recognize her?" Bill asked.

"I've never seen her dressed up before." Ron said with a shrug.

"You didn't recognize me either." Hermione said.

"**Cris, is that…you?" Ron asked gaping at her.**

"**Surprised Red?" she asked with a grin.**

"**Yeah," Ron said blushing as Pavarti came down the stairs she saw Ron and gave him a tentative smile. "You look nice," he added to Pavarti. She smiled wider and he offered her his arm. **

"**Do you know where Hermione is?" he asked to Cris. **

"**No, the last I saw her was when she went to grab my dress." Cris said. **

"**Well let's head down." Seamus said offering Cris his arm. Cris took it and Seamus the four of them down to the Entrance hall. Fred was standing with Angelina over by the fire watching her and she could feel the jealousy coming off of him.**

Fred blushed and Cris looked over at him with a smile.

"I can so read you." Cris said.

"That you can." The twins said.

**The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another. Pavarti spotted her twin standing with Ravenclaw that Cris didn't know. She looked over at Ron to see him looking trying to find Hermione.**

"I wanted to make sure she actually had a date." Ron said with a bright blush.

"That's sweet of you." Hermione said kissing his cheek. Ron blushed even brighter and Al continued to read.

**"Oh no…"**

**He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Seamus, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of silver-gray satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.**

Bill looked jealous but Fleur kissed his cheek. Bill smiled at her and kissed her cheek back.

**"Where is Hermione?" he said again.**

**A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Cris' opinion made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them, Cris was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner.**

"I don't think any girl would go with them." Ginny said.

"It would mean that the girl was blind." Cris said. Draco laughed at them as well as the rest of the group laughed as well.

**The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes Cris didn't know. **

Hermione turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Cris shrugged innocently as her son continued reading.

**Over their heads she saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.**

**Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"**

**Cris looked up at Seamus and smiled as they walked towards the Professor. "See you later," she mouthed to Ron and Pavarti. Ron nodded and Cris and Seamus walked towards Professor McGonagall she was wearing dress robes of red tartan**

"You are very observant." McGonagall said with a smile. Cris smiled slightly but didn't say anything.

**and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim other hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.**

**Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were close to Cris too; he looked away from them so she wouldn't have to talk to them. Her eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. Her jaw dropped.**

**It was Hermione.**

"You were his partner for the Ball?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, and afterward we became friends." Hermione said.

"It vas nice to have a friend who didn't judge me based on my fame." Viktor said. Gwen looked up at him and smiled sadly and hugged him, he looked shocked but hugged her back.

**But she didn't look like Hermione at all. Though Cris supposed she didn't look like herself either.**

"You didn't, the two of you looked really great that night." Ginny said.

"Thanks," Cris and Hermione said.

**She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back.**

"That's true," Hermione said with a chuckle.

"I'm not far from you either." Cris said with a smile.

"True, as well." She said with a smile.

**She was also smiling - rather nervously, it was true - but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Cris couldn't understand how she hadn't spotted it before.**

**"Hi, Cris!" she said. "Hi, Seamus!"**

**Seamus was gazing at Hermione in disbelief. **

**He wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.**

"I didn't know it was you." Ron said.

"I did work really hard on it." Hermione said.

"And it paid off." Lily said with a smile.

**Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.**

**Cris concentrated on not tripping over her feet. Seamus seemed to be enjoying himself; he was glancing all around them with a big smile and Cris couldn't help but shake her head in amusement at him. She caught sight of Ron and Pavarti as she neared the top table. Ron was watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes. Pavarti was looking sulky.**

"I was jealous." Ron muttered. Hermione smiled at him and kissed his cheek making him light up like a light bulb.

**Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, Cris suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley. **

"Why were you there?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll see." Percy said.

**When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Cris. Cris took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Cris thought it ought to be fined.**

Percy blushed very brightly and his sibling chuckled a bit.

**"I've been promoted," Percy said before Cris could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe. **

"You did sound very proud." Cris said.

"I know," Percy mumbled. Cris raised her brow wondering if he is changing already.

**"I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."**

**"Why didn't he come?" Cris asked. She wasn't looking forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all through dinner.**

Percy blushed once again and looked down into his lap. He never realized that his work sounded so boring.

**"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising - overwork. He's not as young as he was – though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then, Mr. Crouch suffered a huge personal shock with the misbehavior of that house-elf of his, Blinky, or whatever she was called. **

"Winky!" Hermione and Gwen said glaring at the third brother.

**Naturally, he dismissed her immediately afterward, but - well, as I say, he's getting on, he needs looking after, and I think he's found a definite drop in his home comforts since she left. And then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with - that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around - no, poor man, he's having a well-earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."**

**Cris wanted very much to ask whether Mr. Crouch had stopped calling Percy "Weatherby" yet, but resisted the temptation.**

"He didn't, he still called me that." Percy said. His siblings laughed once again but Al continued reading.

**There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Cris picked hers up uncertainly and looked around - there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"**

**And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Cris glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining - surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? - but for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.**

"I had things on my mind." Hermione said.

"You were just jealous." Ginny whispered in her ear. Hermione blushed but didn't say anything else.

**It now occurred to Cris that she had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that.**

**"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -"**

**"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"**

**Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy… one would almost think you didn't want visitors."**

"That's because he doesn't." Dumbledore said.

"I'm not surprised." Viktor said.

**"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"**

**"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. **

"Which I do not." Dumbledore said with the twinkle in his eyes.

"I think the students know more than the teachers." McGonagall said eyeing the marauders who just smiled back at her.

**"Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."**

"The room of requirement," Cris whispered to the twins and they nodded.

"I haven't heard of a room like that." Prongs said.

**Cris snorted into her plate of goulash. Percy frowned, but Cris could have sworn Dumbledore had given her a very small wink.**

**Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies **

"I was just comparing ze two." Fleur said.

"We know," Cris said with a smile to her future sister-in-law.

**"Zis is nothing," she said dismissively, looking around at the sparkling walls of the Great Hall. "At ze Palace of Beauxbatons, we 'ave ice sculptures all around ze dining chamber at Chreestmas. Zey do not melt, of course… zey are like 'uge statues of diamond, glittering around ze place. And ze food is seemply superb. And we 'ave choirs of wood nymphs, 'oo serenade us as we eat. We 'ave none of zis ugly armor in ze 'alls, and eef a poltergeist ever entaired into Beauxbatons, 'e would be expelled like zat." She slapped her hand onto the table impatiently.**

"But Peeves makes life interesting, you never know what will happen from one day to the next." Victoire said. Fleur looked over at her daughter who was sitting in the lap of Keiran and he was looking at as if she were his whole world. Fleur smiled at the sight and smiled up at Bill.

**Roger Davies was watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Cris had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying.**

**"Absolutely right," he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table in imitation of Fleur. "Like that. Yeah."**

**Cris looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables; he was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Cris saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight.**

**Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own." **

"I am sorry Herm-own-ninny," Viktor said. Hermione smiled at him, he still pronounced it wrong but it was close enough.

"It's alright," Hermione said.

**"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.**

**"Herm-own-ninny."**

**"Close enough," she said, catching Cris' eye and grinning.**

**When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.**

"Now it's time to dance." Lily said. Cris blushed and looked down, she was very grateful that Seamus was patient with her.

**The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Cris, who had been so interested in watching them that she had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.**

**"Come on!" Seamus hissed. "We're supposed to dance!"**

"**Right, I can't dance." Cris whispered miserably.**

"**It's alright, just follow my lead." He said. Cris nodded and took his hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.**

"Don't trip," Lily said. Cris smiled she didn't but she did stumble a bit.

**Seamus started to lead her to the beat of the song the Weird Sisters started playing. It was slow and mournful and Seamus took care not to overwhelm her too much. **

"That's sweet of him." Lily J said.

"He is," Cris said.

**It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Cris thought, revolving slowly on the spot. **

"Maybe we should teach you." Robin said.

"I got it down, Seamus is a good teacher." Cris said.

"Who would have thought." Ron said with a snicker.

**She kept her eyes fixed over the heads of the watching people, and very soon many of them too had come onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no longer the center of attention. Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby - she could see Ginny wincing frequently as Neville trod on her feet – and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. **

"Sorry," Neville said. Ginny kissed his cheek which made his cheeks flame up.

**He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg.**

"I bet, that would have hurt a lot." Tonks said. Moody turned to glare at her but she just smiled at him.

**Cris heard the final, quavering note from the bagpipe with relief. The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, and Cris let go of Seamus at once.**

"My feet were hurting; I'm not used to wearing heels." Cris said.

"I bet," Robin said.

"**Can we sit down, my feet hurt." Cris asked. Seamus looked at her a smiled and nodded. She was grateful because the next song was very upbeat. **

"**I understand, we'll stick with the slower songs alright." Seamus said. Cris smiled and nodded and he led her off the dance floor.**

"I don't think I like that idea." George said holding her close.

"You two were busy, besides I don't think I ever want to dance with Fred." Cris said.

"I don't blame you at all." Ginny said with a smile. Fred looked scandalized and fell into fake tears. Al rolled his eyes and continued reading.

**Seamus led her away past Fred and Angelina, Cris was glad to not be dancing with him; they were dancing so exuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury, **

"Where in the world did you learn how to dance?" Sirius asked.

"I didn't," Fred said with a smile.

"That explains so much." Tonks said.

**and over to the table where Ron and Pavarti were sitting.**

"Did the two of you dance at all?" Scarlett asked.

"No, he was being Mr. Grumpy pants." Cris said with a smirk.

"No I wasn't." Ron said.

"Yes you were." Hermione and Cris said with identical grins.

**"How's it going?" Cris and Seamus asked Ron, sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer.**

**Ron didn't answer. He was glaring at Hermione and Krum, who were dancing nearby. Pavarti was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music. Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at Ron, who was completely ignoring her. Seamus sat down on Cris' other side, he seemed relaxed enough and then Pavarti was asked to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons.**

**"You don't mind, do you, Ron?" Parvati said.**

**"What?" said Ron, who was still watching Krum and Hermione.**

"Good grief Ron, no wonder she complained about it the next day." Ginny said.

"She complained?" Ron asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what do you expect." Ginny said.

**"Oh never mind," snapped Parvati, and she went off with the boy from Beauxbatons. When the song ended, she did not return.**

**Hermione came over and sat down in Parvati's empty chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing.**

**"Hi," said Cris. Ron didn't say anything.**

**"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."**

**Ron gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"**

"So that's why Uncle Ron won't call me Vicky." Victoire said.

"What do I call you then?" Ron asked.

"Tory, sometimes." Victoire said.

"I like zat nickname." Fleur said.

**Hermione looked at him in surprise. "What's up with you?" she said.**

**"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."**

**Hermione stared at him, then at Cris, who shrugged.**

**"Ron, what -?"**

**"He's from Durmstrang!" spat Ron. "He's competing against Cris! Against Hogwarts! You - you're -" Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, "fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"**

"But the whole competition is designed to meet foreign witches and wizards." Lily said. Ron blushed; he only said that because he was jealous.

**Hermione's mouth fell open.**

**"Don't be so stupid!" she said after a moment. "The enemy! Honestly - who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"**

"Nice comeback." Padfoot said.

"Aunt Mione always has good comebacks." James said.

"I can see that." Prongs said.

**Ron chose to ignore this. "I s'pose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?"**

**"Yes, he did," said Hermione, the pink patches on her cheeks glowing more brightly. "So what?"**

**"What happened - trying to get him to join spew, were you?"**

"She didn't even mention it." Viktor said. Ron went even redder but still didn't say anything.

**"No, I wasn't! If you really want to know, he - he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!"**

**Hermione said this very quickly, and blushed so deeply that she was the same color as Parvati's robes.**

**"Yeah, well - that's his story," said Ron nastily.**

**"And what's that supposed to mean?"**

**"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with… He's just trying to get closer to Cris - get inside information on her - or get near enough to jinx her -"**

"He might, but I will never." Viktor said.

"Thank you Viktor." Cris said with a smile.

"See Ron," Hermione said with a smirk which only caused Ron to blush even more.

**Hermione looked as though Ron had slapped her. When she spoke, her voice quivered.**

**"For your information, he hasn't asked me one single thing about Cris, not one -"**

**Ron changed tack at the speed of light.**

**"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions -"**

"No, I found out on my own." Viktor said.

"So did I." Fleur said.

"I had help," Cris said.

"Ve don't blame you, you need all the help you could get." Viktor said.

**"I'd never help him work out that egg!" said Hermione, looking outraged. "Never. How could you say something like that - I want Cris to win the tournament. Cris knows that, don't you, Cris?"**

"**Of course I do." Cris said giving her a reassuring smile.**

**"You've got a funny way of showing it," sneered Ron.**

**"This whole tournament's supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" said Hermione hotly. **

"Exactly," Dumbledore said.

"See Ron," Cris said with a smile.

**"No it isn't!" shouted Ron. "It's about winning!"**

"Not everything is about winning." Keiran said.

"Yeah, we've lost our fair share of games." Teddy said.

**People were starting to stare at them.**

**"Ron," said Cris quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum -"**

**But Ron ignored Cris too.**

**"Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," said Ron.**

"Good grief, the two of you were horrible." Tonks said.

"Imagine being in the middle of it." Cris said.

"I would hate to be you." Remus said.

**"Don't call him Vicky!"**

**Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Ron watched her go with a mixture of anger and satisfaction on his face.**

"**Um, I'm going to get us some drinks." Seamus said. Cris nodded and he kissed her cheek and got up to get some drinks. Cris lifted her hand to her cheek and watched him leave. She felt someone staring at her and she looked around to see George now staring at her, his eyes full of jealousy. He quickly looked away and him and Alicia went back to grab some drinks. **

"Ah, are Fred and George jealous that Crisy is going with Seamus." Charlie asked.

"Shut up Charlie," they said going red slightly. Charlie laughed and Al read to prevent his fathers from attacking his uncle.

**"Vare is Herm-own-ninny?" said a voice.**

"And Viktor is there yet again." Teddy said with a smile.

**Krum had just arrived at their table clutching two butterbeers.**

**"No idea," said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. "Lost her, have you?"**

**Krum was looking surly again.**

**"Veil, if you see her, tell her I haff drinks," he said, and he slouched off.**

**"Made friends with Viktor Krum, have you, Ron?"**

"It's Uncle Percy!" Lily J said with a smile.

"How do you know?" Bill asked.

"Because I know, Uncle Bill." Lily J said with a smile.

**Percy had bustled over, rubbing his hands together and looking extremely pompous. **

"You really need to chill Uncle Percy." James said.

"No kidding," Lily J said.

**"Excellent! That's the whole point, you know - international magical cooperation!"**

"Good grief, how many times did you get told that?" Keiran asked.

"A few times." Ron muttered blushing brightly.

**To Cris' displeasure, Percy now took Pavarti's vacated seat. The top table was now empty; Professor Dumbledore was dancing with Professor Sprout, Ludo Bagman with Professor McGonagall; Madame Maxime and Hagrid were cutting a wide path around the dance floor as they waltzed through the students, and Karkaroff was nowhere to be seen. When the next song ended, everybody applauded once more, and Cris saw Ludo Bagman kiss Professor McGonagall's hand and make his way back through the crowds, at which point Fred and George accosted him.**

**"What do they think they're doing, annoying senior Ministry members?" Percy hissed, watching Fred and George suspiciously. "No respect…"**

"What were the two of you doing anyway?" Percy asked.

"All in due time." George said.

"You will find out in the end." Fred said.

**Ludo Bagman shook off Fred and George fairly quickly, however, and, spotting Cris, waved and came over to their table.**

**"I hope my brothers weren't bothering you, Mr. Bagman?" said Percy at once.**

**"What? Oh not at all, not at all!" said Bagman. "No, they were just telling me a bit more about those fake wands of theirs. Wondering if I could advise them on the marketing. I've promised to put them in touch with a couple of contacts of mine at Zonko's Joke Shop…"**

**Percy didn't look happy about this at all, and Cris was prepared to bet he would be rushing to tell Mrs. Weasley about this the moment he got home. Apparently Fred and George's plans had grown even more ambitious lately, if they were hoping to sell to the public. Bagman opened his mouth to ask Cris something, but Percy diverted him. **

"Sorry," Percy said.

"It's alright; he was probably going to give me more advice." Cris said.

"You think so." Percy said. Cris nodded and Al continued.

**"How do you feel the tournament's going, Mr. Bagman? Our department's quite satisfied - the hitch with the Goblet of Fire" - he glanced at Cris - "was a little unfortunate, of course, but it seems to have gone very smoothly since, don't you think?"**

**"Oh yes," Bagman said cheerfully, "it's all been enormous fun. How's old Barty doing? Shame he couldn't come."**

"That's likely," Tonks said.

**"Oh I'm sure Mr. Crouch will be up and about in no time," said Percy importantly, "but in the meantime, I'm more than willing to take up the slack. Of course, it's not all attending balls" - he laughed airily - "oh no, I've had to deal with all sorts of things that have cropped up in his absence - you heard Ali Bashir was caught smuggling a consignment of flying carpets into the country? And then we've been trying to persuade the Transylvanians to sign the International Ban on Dueling. I've got a meeting with their Head of Magical Cooperation in the new year -"**

**"Let's go for a walk," Ron muttered to Cris, "get away from Percy…"**

**Cris nodded and by the time the got to the door Seamus met up with them. **

"**Here's your drink, where are you two going?" he asked. **

"**We're going for a walk, want to join us?" Cris asked accepting the butterbeer from him. Seamus shrugged his shoulders and followed them out of there. **

**The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as they went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues. Cris could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. She, Ron, and Seamus set off along one of the winding paths through the rosebushes, but they had gone only a short way when they heard an unpleasantly familiar voice.**

"What's Snape doing there?" Padfoot asked.

"Wait and listen." Cris said.

**"… don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."**

**"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it _" **

"You guys are talking about the Mark." Scarlett said.

"How do you know?" Snape asked.

"Dad and Mum talks about it." Scarlett said with a slight blush.

"Why do we talk about it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, it's been a while since you guys talked about it." Scarlett said.

**"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly. "Flee - I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts." **

"He is a coward then." Moody said.

**Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them.**

**"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. **

"What were they doing?" Keiran asked.

"I think they were only kissing," Cris said.

"Good grief, at least they weren't shagging." Teddy said.

**"And what are you three doing?" he added, catching sight of Cris, Seamus and Ron on the path ahead. **

**Karkaroff, Cris saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.**

**"We're walking," Ron told Snape shortly. "Not against the law, is it?"**

"Nope, the cool air felt really good." Cris said.

"It does since the Great Hall got really hot." Hermione said.

**"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Cris, Seamus and Ron continued down the path.**

**"What's got Karkaroff all worried?" Ron muttered.**

**"And since when have he and Snape been on first-name terms?" said Cris slowly. **

"**I don't want to think about it." Seamus said. **

"**Agreed," Cris and Ron said. Though Cris had an idea of why the two know each other.**

"You knew?" Snape asked.

"I had an idea but not for sure." Cris said.

**They had reached a large stone reindeer now, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. The shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight.**

"Hagrid and Madame Maxine." Sirius said.

"Yep," Cris and Ron said.

**And then Cris heard Hagrid speak.**

**"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice. **

"My god," Padfoot said.

"I know, it's kind of funny." Cris said.

"I just can't really picture Hagrid with a wife and kid." Ron said.

**Cris, Seamus and Ron froze. This didn't sound like the sort of scene they ought to walk in on, somehow… Cris looked around, back up the path, and saw Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies standing half-concealed in a rosebush nearby. **

**She tapped Ron on the shoulder and jerked her head toward them, meaning that they could easily sneak off that way without being noticed (Fleur and Davies looked very busy to Cris), but Ron, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Fleur, shook his head vigorously, and pulled Cris deeper into the shadows behind the reindeer. Seamus followed after them with a questioning glance.**

"I hadn't told him about it yet." Ron said.

"I'm surprised he hadn't known before." Cris said.

**"What did you know, 'Agrid?" said Madame Maxime, a purr in her low voice.**

"That I'm in love with you." Padfoot said.

"Shut up Paddy," Moony said.

**Cris definitely didn't want to listen to this; she knew Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this (she certainly would have) - if it had been possible she would have put her fingers in her ears and hummed loudly, but that wasn't really an option. Instead she tried to interest herself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words.**

**"I jus' knew… knew you were like me… Was it yer mother or yer father?"**

"What?" Gwen asked.

"Hagrid is a half-giant." Sirius said.

"Really?" Gwen asked. Sirius nodded and Al continued reading.

**"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid…"**

**"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the las' ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well… she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well… it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her… might be dead fer all I know…" **

"Was she?" Gwen asked.

"No one knows." Mrs. Weasley said.

"That's just sad." Gwen said sadly.

**Madame Maxime didn't say anything. And Cris, in spite of herself, took her eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening… She had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before.**

**"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh…" Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain. "Dad raised me… but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very kind ter me, he was…"**

**Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily.**

**"So… anyway… enough abou' me. What about you? Which side you got it on?"**

"Do you know?" Cris asked the future kids.

"No, she doesn't talk about it." Victoire said.

"Understandable." Fleur said.

**But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet.**

**"It is chilly," she said - but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice. "I think I will go in now."**

**"Eh?" said Hagrid blankly. "No, don go! I've - I've never met another one before!"**

**"Anuzzer what, precisely?" said Madame Maxime, her tone icy.**

**Cris could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer; she stood there in the shadows gritting her teeth, hoping against hope he wouldn't - but it was no good.**

**"Another half-giant, o' course!" said Hagrid. **

"Oh Hagrid, you really shouldn't have said that." Charlie said.

"No kidding," Bill said.

**"'Ow dare you!" shrieked Madame Maxime. Her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind her. Cris heard Fleur and Roger fall out of their rosebush. "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave - I 'ave big bones!"**

"Big Bones?" Sirius asked.

"Well it is a good excuse." Bill said.

**She stormed away; great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.**

"**C'mon," Cris said, very quietly to Ron and Seamus. "Let's go…"**

**But Ron didn't move.**

"**What's up?" said Cris, looking at him.**

**Ron looked around at Cris, his expression very serious indeed.**

"**Did you know?" he whispered. "About Hagrid being half-giant?"**

"Does it really matter?" Gwen asked.

"Not really because Hagrid is a great guy but Giants have a bad rap." Bill said.

**"No," Cris said, shrugging. "So what?"**

"She should know," Prongs muttered. Lily gripped his shoulder in support, she wished her baby girl would grow up knowing as well.

**She knew immediately, from the look Ron was giving her, that she was once again revealing her ignorance of the wizarding world. Brought up by the Dursley's, there were many things that wizards took for granted that were revelations to Cris, but these surprises had become fewer with each successive year. Now, however, she could tell that most wizards would not have said "So what?" upon finding out that one of their friends had a giantess for a mother.**

"Eet ees about ze same as when zey find out about my grandmuzzer." Fleur said. Bill smiled down at her and he didn't care about it.

**"I'll explain inside," said Ron quietly, "c'mon…"**

**Fleur and Roger Davies had disappeared, probably into a more private clump of bushes. Cris, Seamus and Ron returned to the Great Hall. Parvati and Padma were now sitting at a distant table with a whole crowd of Beauxbatons boys, and Hermione was once more dancing with Krum. Cris and Seamus went back to the dance floor. **

**"So?" Cris prompted Seamus. "What's the problem with giants?"**

**"Well, they're… they're…" Seamus struggled for words. "… not very nice," he finished lamely. **

"That's a bit of an understatement." Padfoot said.

"There are some that are nice." James said.

"How do you know one?" Cris asked.

"Through Hagrid," the future kids said.

"Great," the adults said.

**"Who cares?" Cris said. "There's nothing wrong with Hagrid!"**

**"I know there isn't, but… blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet," Seamus said, shaking his head. "I always thought he'd got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn't like to mention it…"**

**"But what's it matter if his mother was a giantess?" said Cris.**

**"Well… no one who knows him will care, 'cos they'll know he's not dangerous," said Seamus slowly. "But… Cris, they're just vicious, giants. It's like Hagrid said, it's in their natures, they're like trolls… they just like killing, everyone knows that. There aren't any left in Britain now, though."**

**"What happened to them?"**

**"Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got themselves killed by Aurors. **

"Why?" Gwen asked.

"They joined sides with Voldemort." Sirius said.

"That makes sense." Gwen said.

**There're supposed to be giants abroad, though… They hide out in mountains mostly…"**

"I don't think I can ever go into the mountains again." Gwen said.

"Don't worry; it's unlikely that you'll run into them." Remus said.

"But still I don't think I can with that knowledge." She said.

"Understandable," Sirius said.

**"I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding," Cris said, watching Madame Maxime sitting alone at the judges' table, looking very somber. "If Hagrid's half giant, she definitely is. Big bones… the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur."**

**Cris and Seamus spent the rest of the ball discussing giants as they were dancing, in fact Cris even forgot she was dancing and just let him lead her, he was a very good dancer and teacher.**

"Good for him," Lily said with a smile.

"He was very sweet about the whole thing." Cris said.

**When the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall. Many people were expressing the wish that the ball could have gone on longer, but Cris was perfectly happy to be going to bed; she had a good time but her feet were killing her.**

"The downsides of wearing high heels." Robin said.

"No kidding," the girls said in agreement.

**Out in the entrance hall, Cris and Seamus saw Hermione saying good night to Krum before he went back to the Durmstrang ship. Cris saw Ron on the staircase just sitting there staring at the two of them, she gave Ron a very cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase without speaking. Cris and Seamus followed her, but halfway up the staircase Cris heard someone calling her.**

**"Hey-Cris!"**

**It was Cedric Diggory. Cris could see Cho waiting for him in the entrance hall below.**

**"Yeah?" said Cris as Cedric ran up the stairs toward her.**

**Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of Seamus, who shrugged and continued to climb the stairs.**

**"Listen…" Cedric lowered his voice as Seamus disappeared. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"**

**"Yeah," said Cris.**

**"Well… take a bath, okay?"**

"Take a bath?" Padfoot asked.

"That doesn't make sense." Prongs said.

"Unless you can only understand it in water." Lily suggested.

"Possibly," Moony said thinking about it.

**"What?"**

**"Take a bath, and - er - take the egg with you, and - er - just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think… Trust me."**

"What?" Gwen asked. The three champions in the room didn't say anything but just smirked.

**Cris stared at him.**

**"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go… want to say good night -"**

"Why the prefects bathroom?" Moony asked.

"I know," Remus said.

"Tell us?" Padfoot begged. Remus shook his head and the past marauders pouted.

**He grinned at Cris again and hurried back down the stairs to Cho.**

**Cris walked back to Gryffindor Tower alone. That had been extremely strange advice. Why would a bath help her to work out what the wailing egg meant? Was Cedric pulling her leg? Was he trying to make Cris look like a fool?**

"I doubt that, Cedric wouldn't do that." Luna said.

"I know, my thoughts were going wild and I was tired." Cris said.

**The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Cris had to yell "Fairy lights!" before she woke them up, and when she did, they were extremely irritated. She climbed into the common room and found Ron and Hermione having a blazing row. Standing ten feet apart, they were bellowing at each other, each scarlet in the face. **

"That can't be good." Bill said.

"It never is." Cris said sadly.

**"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.**

**"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"**

**"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" **

"Ooohhh, Ron got told." Fred said.

"That's cold." Gwen said.

"It had to be said." Hermione said with a smirk.

**Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Cris.**

**"Well," he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, "well - that just proves – completely missed the point -"**

**Cris didn't say anything. She liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to speak her mind right now - but she somehow thought that Hermione had gotten the point much better than Ron had.**

"I'm glad you didn't say anything." Hermione said.

"Me too, I love my best friends too much." Cris said.

"Friends are better than family sometimes." Sirius said.

"That's the chapter." Al said passing the book to Hermione.


	29. Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop

"**Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter's Scoop," **Hermione read.

"Why did I have to get this chapter?" she asked with a groan.

"Bad luck," Cris said with a shrug.

"What does she do now?" Moony asked.

"Something bad," Ron said.

**Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating the lazy conversations. Hermione's hair was bushy again; she confessed to Cris that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball, "but it's way too much bother to do every day," she said matter-of-factly, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.**

**Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. They were being quite friendly to each other, though oddly formal. **

"Well at least they aren't fighting." James said.

"That was a plus." Cris said with a smile.

**Ron and Cris wasted no time in telling Hermione about the conversation they had overheard between Madame Maxime and Hagrid, but Hermione didn't seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half-giant nearly as shocking as Ron did.**

"Well it does seem quite obvious." Hermione said.

"True," Lily said.

**"****Well, I thought he must be," she said, shrugging. "I knew he couldn't be pure giant because they're about twenty feet tall. But honestly, all this hysteria about giants. They can't all be horrible… It's the same sort of prejudice that people have toward werewolves… It's just bigotry, isn't it?"**

**Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply scathingly, but perhaps he didn't want another row, because he contented himself with shaking his head disbelievingly while Hermione wasn't looking.**

**It was time now to think of the homework they had neglected during the first week of the holidays. Everybody seemed to be feeling rather flat now that Christmas was over - everybody except Cris, that is, who was starting (once again) to feel slightly nervous. **

"The clue," Prongs said.

"You shouldn't have waited." Lily said.

"I had no idea where to start until Cedric said anything." Cris said.

**The trouble was that February the twenty-fourth looked a lot closer from this side of Christmas, and she still hadn't done anything about working out the clue inside the golden egg.**

"Just do as Cedric says." Robin said.

**She therefore started taking the egg out of her trunk every time she went up to the dormitory, opening it, and listening intently, hoping that this time it would make some sense. She strained to think what the sound reminded her of, apart from thirty musical saws, but she had never heard anything else like it. She closed the egg, shook it vigorously, and opened it again to see if the sound had changed, but it hadn't. She tried asking the egg questions, shouting over all the wailing, but nothing happened. **

"You are so stubborn." Padfoot said.

"We know," Ron and Hermione said.

**She even threw the egg across the room - though she hadn't really expected that to help.**

"So that's why there was a dent in the wall." Ron said with a chuckle.

"Shut up," Cris said with a mock glare.

**Cris had not forgotten the hint that Cedric had given her, but her stubbornness wanted her to do it by herself though she kept the advice, if she couldn't figure it out on her own then she'll use his advice.**

"You should have just used it to begin with." Sirius said shaking his head.

"I know," Cris said.

**And so the first day of the new term arrived, and Cris set off to lessons, weighed down with books, parchment, and quills as usual, but also with the lurking worry of the egg heavy in her stomach, as though she were carrying that around with her too.**

**Snow was still thick upon the grounds, and the greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them in Herbology. Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.**

"It wouldn't be the first time." Sirius said.

"I don't remember that happening." Prongs said.

"That will be because it hasn't happened yet." Remus said with a blush.

**When they arrived at Hagrid 's cabin, however, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door.**

"Where's Hagrid?" Sirius asked.

"You'll see." Cris said sadly.

**"****Hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago," she barked at them as they struggled toward her through the snow.**

**"****Who're you?" said Ron, staring at her. "Where's Hagrid?"**

**"****My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," she said briskly. "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."**

"Is Hagrid sick?" Prongs asked.

"No, when have you known Hagrid to be sick?" James asked.

"Never," Padfoot said shaking his head.

"So what's going on?" Charlie asked.

**"****Where's Hagrid?" Cris repeated loudly.**

**"****He is indisposed," said Professor Grubbly-Plank shortly.**

**Soft and unpleasant laughter reached Cris' ears. She turned; Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class. All of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank. **

"What did you do?" Bill asked snarling at the Slytherin.

"Something I truly regret." Draco said.

**"****This way, please," said Professor Grubbly-Plank, and she strode off around the paddock where the Beauxbatons horses were shivering. Cris, Ron, and Hermione followed her, looking back over their shoulders at Hagrid's cabin. All the curtains were closed. Was Hagrid in there, alone and ill?**

"I think he is in there." Robin said.

"So what's going on?" Charlie asked.

**"****What's wrong with Hagrid?" Cris said, hurrying to catch up with Professor Grubbly-Plank.**

**"****Never you mind," she said as though she thought she was being nosy.**

"Well you kind of are." Tonks said.

"It's what I live for." Cris said.

"That's what happens when you combine Lily Evans and James Potter's DNA." Remus said.

"Hey!"

**"****I do mind, though," said Cris hotly. "What's up with him?"**

**Professor Grubbly-Plank acted as though she couldn't hear her. She led them past the paddock where the huge Beauxbatons horses were standing, huddled against the cold, and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered. **

"Unicorns exist?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, and they are absolutely beautiful." Hermione said.

**Many of the girls "ooooohed!" at the sight of the unicorn. "Oh it's so beautiful!" whispered Lavender Brown. "How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"**

**"****Boys keep back!" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, throwing out an arm and catching Ron hard in the chest. "They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it…"**

"Then how come in some stories guys come close to them?" Gwen asked.

"It's a story Gwen." Cris said.

**Hermione and Cris left Ron behind, Cris sent Seamus a look to stop Ron in case Malfoy said anything. Cris walked forward with Hermione and watched the unicorn with interest. This was the second time she ever saw one, expect this one was alive. **

"Poor unicorn." Gwen said sadly.

"It was horrible." Cris and Draco said.

**Throughout the lesson Cris kept looking over her shoulder to look over at the guys. Ron was holding a paper and the other Gryffindor boys were reading it over Ron's shoulder. She was wondering what was going on so she wasn't really paying attention. Hermione nudged her but Cris didn't pay attention, she pointed to the boys. Hermione turned to look at them her brow furrowed looking at them. **

"**What are they doing?" Hermione whispered.**

"**I don't know," Cris whispered back. Grubbly-Plank was now letting them pet the unicorn. But before she knew it the bell rang and her and Hermione headed back to the boys. Ron's face was so red that she knew that she wanted to beat someone.**

**"****I hope she stays, that woman!" said Parvati as they headed back to the castle for lunch. "That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like… proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters…" **

"Both are essential to learn." Charlie said.

"Yeah, it's a good thing to know." Cris said.

"I don't know to know." Lily said.

**"****What about Hagrid?" Cris said angrily as they went up the steps.**

**"****What about him?" said Parvati in a hard voice. "He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"**

**Cris thought that maybe it because she had talked Pavarti in going to the Yule Ball with Ron. Ron didn't even dance with her, and she knew it was because of Hermione that Ron had been in a bad mood.**

"Good grief, are we that transparent?" Hermione asked.

"Only to me." Cris said with a smile.

"Great," Ron said.

**She was certainly telling anybody who would listen that she had made arrangements to meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.**

**"****That was a really good lesson," said Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. "I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni -"**

"We had no idea what was happening." Cris said.

"What was happening?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll see." Hermione said.

**"Look at this!" Ron snarled, and he shoved the Daily Prophet article under Hermione and Cris' nose.**

_**DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE**_

"No way." Prongs said.

"She went after Hagrid?" Lily asked horrified.

_**Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously jinx-happy ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes a sudden movement in his presence. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.**_

"Shut-up!" Bill snapped.

_**Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since a job secured for him by Dumbledore. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.**_

"At the moment he is the best candidate." Sirius said.

"Very true," Charlie said.

_**An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a succession of horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening." 'I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm," says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. "We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything."**_

"Sorry, my father told me to say that." Draco said.

"We understand," Luna said simply placing a hand on his shoulder.

_**Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of intimidation, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures he has dubbed "Blast-Ended Skrewts," highly dangerous crosses between manti-cores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creature is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.**_

"Well it is illegal." Remus said.

_**"**__**I was just having some fun," he says, before hastily changing the subject. As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not - as he has always pretended - a pure-blood wizard.**_

"He never pretended to be one." Keiran said.

"He never said a word about is genetics." Padfoot said.

_**He is not, in fact, even pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves during the last century. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of his reign of terror.**_

_**While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors working against the Dark Side, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during Care of Magical Creatures lessons are any guide, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature.**_

"I really want to go and hex her." Bill said.

"So do I." Charlie snapped.

_**In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the girl who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power - thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Cristal Potter is unaware of the unpleasant truth about her large friend – but Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Cristal Potter, along with her fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants. **_

**Hermione's and Cris' mouth fell open as they read. Cris wanted nothing more than to burn the paper and punch the woman. **

"Do it," Sirius growled.

"No we do something much better." Hermione said.

**"****How did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"**

"No, she must have been there when you guys overheard." Robin said.

"But they would've mentioned her right?" Gwen asked.

"Unless she was hidden." Sirius said.

**"****No," said Cris, leading the way over to the Gryffindor table and throwing herself into a chair, furious. "He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."**

**"****Maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball," said Hermione quietly.**

"Possible," Fred said.

"Could she have an invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked.

**"****We'd have seen her in the garden!" said Ron. "Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her…"**

**"****Maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak," said Cris, ladling chicken casserole onto his plate and splashing it everywhere in his anger. "Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."**

**"****Like you and Ron did, you mean," said Hermione.**

"That was an accident though," Lily J pointed out.

"I know," Hermione said.

**"****We weren't trying to hear him!" said Ron indignantly. "We didn't have any choice! The stupid prat, talking about his giantess mother where anyone could have heard him!"**

"He didn't realize he was being overheard though." Cris said.

"True," Hermione said.

**"****We've got to go and see him," said Cris. "This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back… you do want him back?" she shot at Hermione.**

"Of course I did." Hermione said rolling her eyes.

**"****I - well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once - but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!" Hermione added hastily, quailing under Cris' furious stare.**

**So that evening after dinner, the three of them left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.**

**"****Hagrid, it's us!" Cris shouted, pounding on the door. "Open up!"**

**Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes; Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.**

"Is he there?" Teddy asked.

"I think he is." Tonks said.

**"****What's he avoiding us for?" Hermione said when they had finally given up and were walking back to the school. "He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"**

**But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes. Malfoy was gloating at every possible opportunity.**

Draco blushed and looked away from the group.

**"****Missing your half-breed pal?" he kept whispering to Cris whenever there was a teacher around, so that he was safe from Cris' retaliation. "Missing the elephantman?" **

Draco turned to the ground as some of the group glared at them.

**There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January. Hermione was very surprised that Cris was going to go. **

"Oh yeah, the task is coming up." Lily said.

**"****I just thought you'd want to take advantage of the common room being quiet," she said. "Really get to work on that egg."**

**"****Oh I - I reckon I've got a pretty good idea what it's about now," Cris lied.**

"Cris, you really shouldn't have lied." Hermione said.

"I know, I just needed a break." Cris said. Hermione nodded knowing full well.

**"****Have you really?" said Hermione, looking impressed. "Well done!"**

**Cris' insides gave a guilty squirm, but she ignored them. She still had five weeks to work out that egg clue, after all, and that was ages… whereas if she went into Hogsmeade, she might run into Hagrid, and get a chance to persuade her to come back.**

**She, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Viktor Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. **

"Are you crazy?" Gwen asked.

"No, I was checking out the lake." Viktor said.

**He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived, right into the lake.**

"You really are crazy." Sirius said shaking his head.

**"****He's mad!" said Cris, staring at Krum's dark head as it bobbed out into the middle of the lake. "It must be freezing, it's January!"**

**"****It's a lot colder where he comes from," said Hermione. "I suppose it feels quite warm to him."**

**"****Yeah, but there's still the giant squid," said Ron. He didn't sound anxious – if anything, he sounded hopeful.**

"Sorry," Ron said.

"It's alright," Viktor said.

**Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.**

**"****He's really nice, you know," she said. "He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."**

**Ron said nothing. He hadn't mentioned Viktor Krum since the ball, but Cris had found a miniature arm under his bed on Boxing Day, which had looked very much as though it had been snapped off a small model figure wearing Bulgarian Quidditch robes.**

"You broke it?" Hermione asked raising a brow.

"Yeah," Ron said with a blush.

**Cris kept her eyes skinned for a sign of Hagrid all the way down the slushy High Street, and suggested a visit to the Three Broomsticks once she had ascertained that Hagrid was not in any of the shops.**

**The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told Cris that Hagrid wasn't there. Heart sinking, she went up to the bar with Ron and Hermione, ordered three butterbeers from Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that she might just as well have stayed behind and listened to the egg wailing after all.**

"But this way you want go deaf." George said.

"Very true," Cris said.

**"****Doesn't he ever go into the office?" Hermione whispered suddenly. "Look!"**

**She pointed into the mirror behind the bar, and Cris saw Ludo Bagman reflected there, sitting in a shadowy corner with a bunch of goblins. Bagman was talking very fast in a low voice to the goblins, all of whom had their arms crossed and were looking rather menacing. **

"That doesn't sound too good." Padfoot said.

"What did he do?" Bill asked.

**It was indeed odd. Cris thought, that Bagman was here at the Three Broomsticks on a weekend when there was no Triwizard event, and therefore no judging to be done. She watched Bagman in the mirror. He was looking strained again, quite as strained as he had that night in the forest before the Dark Mark had appeared. But just then Bagman glanced over at the bar, saw Cris, and stood up.**

**"****In a moment, in a moment!" Cris heard him say brusquely to the goblins,**

"I wonder what he did." Tonks said.

"I think I have a clue but I do not know what." Kingsley said.

**and Bagman hurried through the pub toward Cris, his boyish grin back in place.**

**"****Cris!" he said. "How are you? Been hoping to run into you! Everything going all right?"**

**"****Fine, thanks," said Cris.**

**"****Wonder if I could have a quick, private word, Cris?" said Bagman eagerly.**

**"****You couldn't give us a moment, you two, could you?"**

**"****Er - okay," said Ron, and he and Hermione went off to find a table.**

**Bagman led Cris along the bar to the end furthest from Madam Rosmerta.**

"He doesn't want someone to overhear them." Moody said.

"I wonder what he is going to be doing." Bill said.

**"****Well, I just thought I'd congratulate you again on your splendid performance against that Horntail, Cris," said Bagman. "Really superb." **

"Okay, so what does he want?" Lily asked. Several people shrugged though some of them guessed what was going on.

**"Thanks," said Cris, but she knew this couldn't be all that Bagman wanted to say, because he could have congratulated Cris in front of Ron and Hermione.**

**Bagman didn't seem in any particular rush to spill the beans, though. Cris saw him glance into the mirror over the bar at the goblins, who were all watching him and Cris in silence through their dark, slanting eyes.**

"I wonder if he is in debts." Charlie said.

"He could be," Al said.

**"Absolute nightmare," said Bagman to Cris in an undertone, noticing Cris watching the goblins too. "Their English isn't too good… it's like being back with all the Bulgarians at the Quidditch World Cup… but at least they used sign language another human could recognize. This lot keep gabbling in Gobbledegook… and I only know one word of Gobbledegook. Bladvak. It means 'pickax.' I don't like to use it in case they think I'm threatening them."**

"At least he has some common sense." Percy said.

"That's a good thing." Tonks said.

**He gave a short, booming laugh.**

**"What do they want?" Cris said, noticing how the goblins were still watching Bagman very closely.**

**"Er - well…" said Bagman, looking suddenly nervous. "They… er… they're looking for Barty Crouch."**

"Doesn't really sound too convincing." Mr. Weasley said.

"No kidding," Bill said shaking his head.

**"Why are they looking for him here?" said Cris. "He's at the Ministry in London, isn't he?"**

**"Er… as a matter of fact, I've no idea where he is," said Bagman. "He's sort of… stopped coming to work. Been absent for a couple of weeks now. **

**Young Percy, his assistant, says he's ill. Apparently he's just been sending instructions in by owl. But would you mind not mentioning that to anyone Cris? Because Rita Skeeter's still poking around everywhere she can, and I'm willing to bet she'd work up Barty's illness into something sinister. Probably say he's gone missing like Bertha Jorkins." **

"I don't think he did." Remus said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm not sure yet, it just doesn't seem right." Remus said.

"Very true," Percy said thinking back to the year before.

**"Have you heard anything about Bertha Jorkins?" Cris asked.**

"I should have remembered." Cris said.

"It's probably a good thing that you didn't, people would think that you are crazy with dreams like that." Sirius said.

"They already think I'm crazy." Cris said glaring at the minister.

**"No," said Bagman, looking strained again. "I've got people looking, of course…" (About time, thought Cris) "and it's all very strange. She definitely arrived in Albania, because she met her second cousin there. And then she left the cousin's house to go south and see an aunt… and she seems to have vanished without trace en route. Blowed if I can see where she's got to… she doesn't seem the type to elope, for instance… but still… What are we doing, talking about goblins and Bertha Jorkins? I really wanted to ask you" - he lowered his voice - "how are you getting on with your golden egg?"**

**"Er… not bad," Cris said untruthfully.**

"Oh Cris, you and your stubbornness." Hermione said.

**Bagman seemed to know he wasn't being honest.**

**"Listen, Cris," he said (still in a very low voice), "I feel very bad about all this… you were thrown into this tournament, you didn't volunteer for it… and if…" (his voice was so quiet now, Cris had to lean closer to listen) "if I can help at all… a prod in the right direction… I've taken a liking to you… the way you got past that dragon… well, just say the word."**

"I wonder why he is helping like this." Prongs said.

"I don't know," Padfoot said.

**Cris stared up into Bagman's round, rosy face and his wide, baby-blue eyes.**

**"We're supposed to work out the clues alone, aren't we?" she said, careful to keep her voice casual and not sound as though she was accusing the head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports of breaking the rules.**

**"Well… well, yes," said Bagman impatiently, "but - come on. Cris - we all want a Hogwarts victory, don't we?"**

"Everybody did." Viktor said with a shrug.

"You two did very well as well." Cris said.

**"Have you offered Cedric help?" Cris said.**

**The smallest of frowns creased Bagman's smooth face. "No, I haven't," he said. "I - well, like I say, I've taken a liking to you. Just thought I'd offer…"**

"Something fishy is going on." Lily J muttered. Teddy kissed her temple and nodded in agreement.

**"Well, thanks," said Cris, "but I think I'm nearly there with the egg… couple more days should crack it."**

"You cutting it really close just like the first task." Lily said.

"I work well under pressure." Cris said with a shrug.

"Great, there's your father in you again." Lily said with a smile.

**She wasn't entirely sure why she was refusing Bagman's help, except that Bagman was almost a stranger to her, and accepting his assistance would feel somehow much more like cheating than asking advice from Ron, Hermione, or Sirius. **

"I can see that." Ron said.

"Ve all had help." Viktor said.

**Bagman looked almost affronted, but couldn't say much more as Fred and George turned up at that point.**

**"Hello, Mr. Bagman," said Fred brightly. "Can we buy you a drink?"**

**"Er… no," said Bagman, with a last disappointed glance at Cris, "no, thank you, boys…"**

**Fred and George looked quite as disappointed as Bagman, who was surveying Cris as though she had let him down badly.**

**"Well, I must dash," he said. "Nice seeing you all. Good luck, Cris."**

**He hurried out of the pub. The goblins all slid off their chairs and exited after him. **

"Really fishy," James said with a smirk.

"I told you?" Cris asked.

"Not exactly," James said.

**Cris went to rejoin Ron and Hermione.**

**"What did he want?" Ron said, the moment Cris had sat down.**

**"He offered to help me with the golden egg," said Cris.**

**"He shouldn't be doing that!" said Hermione, looking very shocked. "He's one of the judges! And anyway, you've already worked it out - haven't you?"**

**"Er… nearly," said Cris.**

"I wish you would have told me." Hermione said.

**"Well, I don't think Dumbledore would like it if he knew Bagman was trying to persuade you to cheat!" said Hermione, still looking deeply disapproving. "I hope he's trying to help Cedric as much!"**

**"He's not, I asked," said Cris.**

**"Who cares if Diggory's getting help?" said Ron. **

Ron looked down he really wished he could take that back.

**"Those goblins didn't look very friendly," said Hermione, sipping her butterbeer. "What were they doing here?"**

**"Looking for Crouch, according to Bagman," said Cris. "He's still ill. Hasn't been into work."**

**"Maybe Percy's poisoning him," said Ron. "Probably thinks if Crouch snuffs it he'll be made head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation."**

"I wouldn't do that." Percy said.

"I know, it was just a wild theory." Ron said with a shrug.

"You have very wild theories." Charlie said with a chuckle.

**Hermione gave Ron a don't-joke-about-things-like-that look, and said, "Funny, goblins looking for Mr. Crouch… They'd normally deal with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."**

**"Crouch can speak loads of different languages, though," said Cris. "Maybe they need an interpreter."**

**"Worrying about poor 'ickle goblins, now, are you?" Ron asked Hermione. "Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G. or something? Society for the Protection of Ugly Goblins?"**

"They don't need protection." Bill said.

"I know," Ron said going even redder.

**"Ha, ha, ha," said Hermione sarcastically. "Goblins don't need protection. Haven't you been listening to what Professor Binns has been telling us about goblin rebellions?"**

**"No," said Cris and Ron together.**

**"Well, they're quite capable of dealing with wizards," said Hermione, taking another sip of butterbeer. "They're very clever. They're not like house-elves, who never stick up for themselves."**

**"Uh-oh," said Ron, staring at the door.**

"Great, let me guess, Skeeter." Lily said.

**Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today; her long nails were painted shocking pink, and she was accompanied by her paunchy photographer. She bought drinks, and she and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby. Cris, Ron, and Hermione glaring at her as she approached. She was talking fast and looking very satisfied about something. **

"She probably ruined another life." Scarlett said with a scowl.

**"… didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think?**

"She really needs to not stick her nose into other people's lives." Ginny said.

"No kidding," Charlie said.

**And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in town anyway? Showing them the sights… what nonsense… he was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman… ' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo - we just need to find a story to fit it -"**

**"Trying to ruin someone else's life?" said Cris loudly.**

**A few people looked around. Rita Skeeter's eyes widened behind her jeweled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.**

**"Cris!" she said, beaming. "How lovely! Why don't you come and join-?"**

**"I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick," said Cris furiously. "What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh?"**

"Don't encourage her." Sirius said.

"I know, I was mad though." Cris said.

**Rita Skeeter raised her heavily penciled eyebrows.**

**"Our readers have a right to the truth, Cris. I am merely doing my-"**

**"Who cares if he's half-giant?" Cris shouted. "There's nothing wrong with him!"**

"You really shouldn't have said that to her cub." Remus said.

"I was mad, and it was boiling inside." Cris said.

"Not good," Lily said.

**The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.**

"I don't think we've seen her that distracted." Padfoot said.

**Rita Skeeter's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her crocodile-skin handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "How about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know. Cris? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute?"**

"I wouldn't call him that, he is kind of but he's more like an uncle." Cris said.

"That's a good way to describe him." Robin said.

**Hermione stood up very abruptly, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.**

"Wow, I love your imagination." Gwen said.

**"You horrible woman," she said, through gritted teeth, "you don't care, do you, anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman -"**

**"Sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand," said Rita Skeeter coldly, her eyes hardening as they fell on Hermione. "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl… not that it needs it -" she added, eyeing Hermione's bushy hair.**

Growls were heard from Ron and Cris, very animalistic and only the marauders knew about it.

**"Let's go," said Hermione, "c'mon. Cris - Ron…"**

**They left; many people were staring at them as they went. Cris glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.**

**"She'll be after you next, Hermione," said Ron in a low and worried voice as they walked quickly back up the street.**

**"Let her try!" said Hermione defiantly; she was shaking with rage. "I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Cris, then Hagrid…"**

"Please tell me you get her back." Padfoot said.

"Possibly," Hermione said with a smile.

"That's a yes." Moony said.

**"You don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter," said Ron nervously. "I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you -"**

**"My parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding!" said Hermione, now striding along so fast that it was all Cris and Ron could do to keep up with her. The last time Cris had seen Hermione in a rage like this, she had hit Draco Malfoy around the face.**

"Oh, I wish I could have seen you hit Skeeter like you did me." Draco said.

"That would have been amazing." Neville said.

**"And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"**

**Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up the road, through the gates flanked by winged boars, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin. The curtains were still drawn, and they could hear Fang barking as they approached.**

"At least he's back." Charlie said.

**"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, pounding on his front door. "Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being -"**

**The door opened. Hermione said, "About t-!" and then stopped, very suddenly, because she had found herself face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Albus Dumbledore.**

"That was so embarrassing." Hermione said.

"It's alright Miss Granger I knew you thought Hagrid would open the door." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

**"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly, smiling down at them.**

**"We-er-we wanted to see Hagrid," said Hermione in a rather small voice.**

**"Yes, I surmised as much," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't you come in?"**

**"Oh… um… okay," said Hermione.**

**She, Ron, and Cris went into the cabin; Fang launched himself upon Cris the moment she entered, barking madly and trying to lick her ears. Cris fended off Fang and looked around.**

**Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked a real mess. His face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and he had gone to the other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of tangled wire.**

**"Hi, Hagrid," said Cris.**

**Hagrid looked up.**

**"'Lo," he said in a very hoarse voice.**

**"More tea, I think," said Dumbledore, closing the door behind Cris, Ron, and Hermione, drawing out his wand, and twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared in midair along with a plate of cakes. Dumbledore magicked the tray onto the table, and everybody sat down. There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "Did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"**

"I hope so." Charlie said.

**Hermione went slightly pink, but Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "Hermione, Cris, and Ron still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door." **

"I would have broken it down if there was no answer." Cris said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just like your father." Sirius said with a smile.

**"Of course we still want to know you!" Cris said, staring at Hagrid. "You don't think anything that Skeeter cow - sorry, Professor," he added quickly, looking at Dumbledore.**

**"I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said. Cris," said Dumbledore, twiddling his thumbs and staring at the ceiling.**

The group chuckled yet again.

**"Er-right," said Cris sheepishly. "I just meant-Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that-woman-wrote about you?"**

"Exactly," Keiran said.

**Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.**

**"Living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid," said Dumbledore, still looking carefully up at the ceiling. "I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it -"**

"Hogwarts wouldn't be that same without him." Cris said.

"That's what mum says." Scarlett said.

**"Not all of 'em," said Hagrid hoarsely. "Not all of 'em wan me ter stay."**

"Screw them." Gwen said.

"Here, here!" the group said in agreement.

**"Really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time," said Dumbledore, now peering sternly over his half-moon spectacles. "Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"**

**"Yeh - yeh're not half-giant!" said Hagrid croakily.**

**"Hagrid, look what I've got for relatives!" Cris said furiously. "Look at the Dursley's!"**

"Really good example." Gwen said.

**"An excellent point," said Professor Dumbledore. "My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery…"**

"I didn't know you have a brother." Bill said.

"Of course I do," Dumbledore said sadly.

**"Come back and teach, Hagrid," said Hermione quietly, "please come back, we really miss you."**

**Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard. Dumbledore stood up. "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."**

"That's one way to do it." Remus said with a chuckle.

**Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fang's ears. When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his dustbin-lid-sized hands. Hermione kept patting his arm, and at last, Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red indeed, and said, "Great man, Dumbledore… great man…"**

**"Yeah, he is," said Ron. "Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"**

"Probably not a good idea." Charlie said.

**"Help yerself," said Hagrid, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "Ar, he's righ', o' course - yeh're all righ'… I bin stupid… my ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'…"**

**More tears leaked out, but he wiped them away more forcefully, and said, "Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here…"**

**Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth - he looked hardly older than eleven.**

"I can't picture Hagrid without a beard." Bill said.

"I can't either." Lily J said with a grin.

**"Tha was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts," Hagrid croaked. "Dad was dead chuffed… thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum… well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great shakes at magic, really… but at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year…" **

"So sad." Gwen said.

"Hagrid's strong, he made it through it." Cris said.

**Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job… trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances… tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'… well… all tha' respectable. But some don understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh… there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say - I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones… I'll give her big bones."**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another nervously; Cris would rather have taken fifty Blast-Ended Skrewts for a walk than admit to Hagrid that she had overheard him talking to Madame Maxime, but Hagrid was still talking, apparently unaware that he had said anything odd.**

**"Yeh know wha, Cris?" he said, looking up from the photograph of his father, his eyes very bright, "when I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it… an' now look at yeh, Cris! School champion!"**

"One of them." Gwen said.

"I didn't want to correct him, he was getting better." Cris said.

**He looked at Cris for a moment and then said, very seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love Cris? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all… yeh don' have ter be pure-blood ter do it. Yeh don have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Cris?"**

**"Great," said Cris. "Really great."**

"Oh Cris," George said shaking his head.

"I know," Cris said.

**Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile.**

**"Tha's my girl… you show 'em, Cris, you show 'em. Beat 'em all."**

**Lying to Hagrid wasn't quite like lying to anyone else. Cris went back to the castle later that afternoon with Ron and Hermione, unable to banish the image of the happy expression on Hagrid's whiskery face as he had imagined Cris winning the tournament. The incomprehensible egg weighed more heavily than ever on Cris' conscience that evening, and by the time she had got into bed, she had made up her mind - it was time to shelve her pride and see if Cedric's hint was worth anything.**

"Finally!" the group said.

"That's the chapter, here ya go Ron." Hermione said.


	30. Chapter 25: The Egg and the Eye

"**Chapter 25: The Egg and the Eye," **Ron said.

"What?" James asked.

"I don't get it," Padfoot said.

"I think it'll explain soon." Hermione said.

**Cris had no idea how long a bath she would need to work out the secret of the golden egg, she decided to do it at night, when she would be able to take as much time as she wanted. Reluctant though she was to accept more favors from Cedric, she also decided to use the prefects' bathroom; far fewer people were allowed in there, so it was much less likely that she would be disturbed.**

"That's probably why he said to use it." Mrs. Weasley said.

"That's one reason." Cris said.

"What's the other reason?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"You'll see." Cris said with a smirk.

**Cris planned her excursion carefully, because she had been caught out of bed and out-of-bounds by Filch the caretaker in the middle of the night once before, and had no desire to repeat the experience. The Invisibility Cloak would, of course, be essential, and as an added precaution, Cris thought she would take the Marauders Map, which, next to the cloak, was the most useful aid to rule-breaking Cris owned. **

"That's my girl." Prongs said.

"Night time is probably the best." Padfoot said.

"That's why I choose it." Cris said.

**The map showed the whole of Hogwarts, including its many shortcuts and secret passageways and, most important of all, it revealed the people inside the castle as minuscule, labeled dots, moving around the corridors, so that Cris would be forewarned if somebody was approaching the bathroom.**

**On Thursday night, Cris sneaked up to bed, put on the cloak, crept back downstairs, and, just as she had done on the night when Hagrid had shown her the dragons, waited for the portrait hole to open. This time it was Ron who waited outside to give the Fat Lady the password ("banana fritters"), "Good luck," Ron muttered, climbing into the room as Cris crept out past him.**

"At least you figured out, we didn't figure it out until later." Prongs said. Cris smiled, and he smiled back at her.

**It was awkward moving under the cloak tonight, because Cris had the heavy egg under one arm and the map held in front of her nose with the other. However, the moonlit corridors were empty and silent, and by checking the map at strategic intervals, Cris was able to ensure that she wouldn't run into anyone she wanted to avoid. When she reached the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands, she located the right door, leaned close to it, and muttered the password, "Pine fresh," just as Cedric had told her.**

"At least the password hadn't changed." Lily said.

"Thank god," Robin said.

**The door creaked open. Cris slipped inside, bolted the door behind her, and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, looking around.**

**Her immediate reaction was that it would be worth becoming a prefect just to be able to use this bathroom. **

"You're not a prefect are you?" Prongs asked.

"No, that's them." Cris said pointing at Ron and Hermione.

**It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pools edges, each with a differently colored Jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock, her long hair over her face. It fluttered every time she snored.**

"Interesting," Gwen said.

"I think I now know why he suggested that bathroom." Remus said.

"I think I might know as well." Moony said.

"Tell us!" Padfoot and Prongs exclaimed.

"It'll explain," Cris said with a smile.

"No fair," they said.

**Cris moved forward, looking around, her footsteps echoing off the walls. Magnificent though the bathroom was - and quite keen though she was to try out a few of those taps - now she was here she couldn't quite suppress the feeling that Cedric might have been having her on. How on earth was this supposed to help solve the mystery of the egg? Nevertheless, she put one of the Huffy towels, the cloak, the map, and the egg at the side of the swimming-pool-sized bath, then knelt down and turned on a few of the taps. **

"I love the prefect's bathroom." Lily said.

"It is great." Teddy said nodding his head.

**She could tell at once that they carried different sorts of bubble bath mixed with the water, though it wasn't bubble bath as Cris had ever experienced it. One tap gushed pink and blue bubbles the size of footballs; another poured ice-white foam so thick that Cris thought it would have supported her weight if she'd cared to test it; **

"It does, and it is a lot of fun." Bill said.

"I'm going to try that now." Ron said.

"Somehow I can see you trying to do that." Cris said.

**a third sent heavily perfumed purple clouds hovering over the surface of the water. Cris amused herself for a while turning the taps on and off, particularly enjoying the effect of one whose jet bounced off the surface of the water in large arcs. Then, when the deep pool was full of hot water, foam, and bubbles, which took a very short time considering its size, Cris turned off all the taps, pulled off her pajamas, slippers, and dressing gown, and slid into the water.**

**It was so deep that her feet barely touched the bottom, and she actually did a couple of lengths before swimming back to the side and treading water, staring at the egg. Highly enjoyable though it was to swim in hot and foamy water with clouds of different-colored steam wafting all around her, no stroke of brilliance came to her, no sudden burst of understanding. Cris stretched out her arms, lifted the egg in her wet hands, and opened it. The wailing, screeching sound filled the bathroom, echoing and reverberating off the marble walls, but it sounded just as incomprehensible as ever, if not more so with all the echoes.**

"Try putting it in the water." Teddy said.

"Why?" Prongs asked. Teddy just shrugged and Ron continued reading.

**She snapped it shut again, worried that the sound would attract Filch, wondering whether that hadn't been Cedric's plan - and then, making her jump so badly that she dropped the egg, which clattered away across the bathroom floor, someone spoke.**

"Whoever is in there better not be a guy." Sirius snarled.

"It wasn't a guy." Cris reassured.

**"****I'd try putting it in the water, if I were you."**

**Cris had swallowed a considerable amount of bubbles in shock. She stood up, sputtering, and saw the ghost of a very glum-looking girl sitting cross-legged on top of one of the taps. **

**It was Moaning Myrtle, who was usually to be heard sobbing in the S-bend of a toilet three floors below.**

"What is she doing there?" Charlie asked. People shrugged around the room, wondering what in the world the ghost was doing there.

**"****Myrtle!" Cris said in outrage, "I'm - I'm not wearing anything!"**

**The foam was so dense that this hardly mattered, but she had a nasty feeling that Myrtle had been spying on her from out of one of the taps ever since she had arrived.**

**"****I closed my eyes when you got in," she said, blinking at her through her thick spectacles. "You haven't been to see me for ages." **

"But who wants to visit a ghost?" Padfoot asked.

"She's actually really nice." Scarlett said.

**"****Yeah… well…" said Cris, bending her knees slightly and crossing her arms over her chest, just to make absolutely sure Myrtle couldn't see anything but her head, "I've been busy."**

**"****I can see that." Myrtle said. **** "But you didn't use to care." **

"I understand why though." Bill said.

"She's nice but a little too annoying sometimes." Keiran said.

**This was true, though only because Cris, Ron, and Hermione had found Myrtle's out-of-order toilets a convenient place to brew Polyjuice Potion in secret – a forbidden potion that had turned him and Ron into living replicas of Crabbe and Goyle for an hour, so that they could sneak into the Slytherin common room.**

"Man, I can't believe we missed that one." James said.

"I would like to see you turn into the opposite sex for a while." Lily J said.

"I would love it." James said with a cocky grin.

"Note to self, never say that to a teenage guy." Lily J said.

"Yeah, not a smart thing to do." Cris said with a smile.

**"****We got told off for going in there." said Cris, which was half-true; Percy had once caught them coming out of Myrtles bathroom. "I thought I'd better not come back after that." **

"At least you saved the school and our sister." Percy said.

"I wonder where the school would be without us to save it." Cris said.

"It would probably close." Hermione said.

**"****Oh… I see…" said Myrtle, picking at a spot on her chin in a morose sort of way. "Well… anyway… I'd try the egg in the water. That's what Cedric Diggory did."**

"Was there merpeople involved?" Moony asked.

"I'm not saying anything." Cris said.

**"****Have you been spying on him too?" said Cris indignantly. "What d'you do, sneak up here in the evenings to watch the prefects take baths?"**

**"****Sometimes," said Myrtle, rather slyly, **

"I'm never going to take a bath there again." Draco said turning a slight green.

"That's why we never use it." Ron said gesturing to him and Hermione.

**"****but I've never come out to speak to anyone before."**

**"****I'm honored," said Cris darkly. "You keep your eyes shut!"**

**She made sure Myrtle had her glasses well covered before hoisting herself out of the bath, wrapping the towel firmly around herself, and going to retrieve the egg.**

**Once she was back in the water, Myrtle peered through her fingers and said, "Go on, then… open it under the water!"**

**Cris lowered the egg beneath the foamy surface and opened it… and this time, it did not wail. A gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words she couldn't distinguish through the water.**

"Put your head beneath the water as well." Lily said.

**"****You need to put your head under too," said Myrtle,**

"I think like Myrtle, I don't think I like that." Lily said.

"It's alright Lils." Prongs said.

**who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying bossing her around. "Go on!"**

**Cris took a great breath and slid under the surface - and now, sitting on the marble bottom of the bubble-filled bath, she heard a chorus of eerie voices singing to her from the open egg in her hands:**

_**"**__**Come seek us where our voices sound,**_

_**We cannot sing above the ground,**_

"So there are definitely merpeople involved, but how?" Lily asked.

_**And while you are searching, ponder this:**_

_**We've taken what you'll sorely miss,**_

_**An hour long you'll have to look,**_

_**And to recover what we took,**_

_**But past an hour- the prospect's black,**_

_**Too late, it's gone, it won't come back"**_

"Well that's morbid," Al said.

**Cris let herself float back upward and broke the bubbly surface, shaking her hair out of her eyes.**

**"****Hear it?" said Myrtle.**

**"****Yeah… 'Come seek us where our voices sound… ' and if I need persuading… hang on, I need to listen again…" She sank back beneath the water. It took three more underwater renditions of the egg's song before Cris had it memorized; then she trod water for a while, thinking hard, while Myrtle sat and watched her.**

**"****I've got to go and look for people who can't use their voices above the ground…" she said slowly. "Er… who could that be?"**

"I can see why it took you a while; you didn't exactly know they were real." Prongs said.

**"****Slow, aren't you?"**

**She had never seen Moaning Myrtle so cheerful, apart from the day when a dose of Polyjuice Potion had given Hermione the hairy face and tail of a cat. Cris stared around the bathroom, thinking… if the voices could only be heard underwater, then it made sense for them to belong to underwater creatures. **

"You're getting there." Robin said with a smile.

**She ran this theory past Myrtle, who smirked at her.**

**"****Well, that's what Diggory thought," she said. "He lay there talking to himself for ages about it. Ages and ages… nearly all the bubbles had gone…"**

**"****Underwater…" Cris said slowly. "Myrtle… what lives in the lake, apart from the giant squid?"**

"A lot of different things." Sirius said.

"I know," Cris said.

**"****Oh all sorts," she said. "I sometimes go down there… sometimes don't have any choice, if someone flushes my toilet when I'm not expecting it…"**

**Trying not to think about Moaning Myrtle zooming down a pipe to the lake with the contents of a toilet,**

"Yeah, not the most pleasant thought." George said.

**Cris said, "Well, does anything in there have a human voice? Hang on -"**

**Cris' eyes had fallen on the picture of the snoozing mermaid on the wall.**

**"****Myrtle, there aren't merpeople in there, are there?"**

**"****Oooh, very good," she said, her thick glasses twinkling, "it took Diggory much longer than that! And that was with her awake too" – **

"So that's why Cedric said to use that bathroom." Padfoot said.

**Myrtle jerked her head toward the mermaid with an expression of great dislike on her glum face - "giggling and showing off and flashing her fins…"**

**"****That's it, isn't it?" said Cris excitedly. "The second task's to go and find the merpeople in the lake and… and…" **

"Find something you'll sorely miss, it better not be the cloak or the broom." Prongs said.

"I don't think it's something material, I think it's a friend." Lily said going white looking over at Ron and Hermione trying to figure out which one will be taken.

**But she suddenly realized what she was saying, and she felt the excitement drain out of her as though someone had just pulled a plug in her stomach. She wasn't a very good swimmer; she'd never had much practice. Dudley had had lessons in his youth, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, no doubt hoping that Cris would drown one day, **

The group growled at that and Lily turned to her daughter.

"Do you know how to swim now?" she asked.

"I know enough to not drown; Gwen taught me what she could." Cris said. Lily jumped up and crossed over to Gwen and pulled the blonde into a hug.

"Thank you," Lily said.

"I'm not about to let my best friend drown because her aunt and uncle could give a rats ass about her." Gwen said.

**hadn't bothered to give her any. A couple of lengths of this bath were all very well, but that lake was very large, and very deep… and merpeople would surely live right at the bottom…**

**"Myrtle," Cris said slowly, "how am I supposed to breathe?"**

"Oh Cris, you really shouldn't have said that." Robin said.

"I know, I wasn't thinking about that." Cris said.

**At this, Myrtle's eyes filled with sudden tears again.**

**"Tactless!" she muttered, groping in her robes for a handkerchief.**

**"What's tactless?" said Cris, bewildered.**

**"Talking about breathing in front of me!" she said shrilly, and her voice echoed loudly around the bathroom. "When I can't… when I haven't… not for ages…"**

"I wasn't thinking about her being a ghost, it just seemed like I was talking with a normal person." Cris said sheepishly.

"It can seem that way, doesn't it." Victoire said.

"If she hates it so much why did she become a ghost?" Percy asked.

"To annoy the girl who was bullying her." Lily J said.

**She buried her face in her handkerchief and sniffed loudly. Cris remembered how touchy Myrtle had always been about being dead, but none of the other ghosts she knew made such a fuss about it.**

**"Sorry," she said impatiently. "I didn't mean - I just forgot…"**

**"Oh yes, very easy to forget Myrtle's dead," said Myrtle, gulping, looking at her out of swollen eyes. "Nobody missed me even when I was alive. Took them hours and hours to find my body - I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom – 'Are you in here again, sulking, Myrtle?' she said, 'because Professor Dippet asked me to look for you -' And then she saw my body… ooooh, she didn't forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that… followed her around and reminded her, I did. I remember at her brother's wedding -" **

"So she came back just to haunt the girl." Bill clarified.

**But Cris wasn't listening; she was thinking about the merpeople's song again.**

**"We've taken what you'll sorely miss." That sounded as though they were going to steal something of hers, something she had to get back. What were they going to take?**

**"—and then, of course, she went to the Ministry of Magic to stop me stalking her, so I had to come back here and live in my toilet."**

**"Good," said Cris vaguely. "Well, I'm a lot further on than I was… Shut your eyes again, will you? I'm getting out."**

**She retrieved the egg from the bottom of the bath, climbed out, dried herself, and pulled on her pajamas and dressing gown again.**

**"Will you come and visit me in my bathroom again sometime?" Moaning Myrtle asked mournfully as Cris picked up the Invisibility Cloak.**

**"Er… I'll try," Cris said, though privately thinking the only way she'd be visiting Myrtle's bathroom again was if every other toilet in the castle got blocked.**

"Absolutely not," Cris snapped to the twins.

"Ah, how did you know what we were thinking?" Fred asked.

"Because I know you way to well." Cris said.

**"See you. Myrtle… thanks for your help."**

**"Bye, 'bye," she said gloomily, and as Cris put on the Invisibility Cloak she saw her zoom back up the tap.**

**Out in the dark corridor, Cris examined the Marauders Map to check that the coast was still clear. Yes, the dots belonging to Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris, were safely in their office… nothing else seemed to be moving apart from Peeves, though he was bouncing around the trophy room on the floor above… Cris had taken her first step back toward Gryffindor Tower when something else on the map caught her eye… something distinctly odd.**

**Peeves was not the only thing that was moving. A single dot was flitting around a room in the bottom left-hand corner – Snape's office. But the dot wasn't labeled "Severus Snape"… **

Snape quirked an eyebrow.

"Just go to bed Cris," Lily said.

"You know she won't." Padfoot said.

"I know," Lily said.

**it was Bartemius Crouch. **

"Isn't he sick?" Moony asked.

"That's what I thought." Percy said.

**Cris stared at the dot. Mr. Crouch was supposed to be too ill to go to work or to come to the Yule Ball - so what was he doing, sneaking into Hogwarts at one o'clock in the morning? Cris watched closely as the dot moved around and around the room, pausing here and there…**

**Cris hesitated, thinking… and then her curiosity got the better of her. She turned and set off in the opposite direction toward the nearest staircase. She was going to see what Crouch was up to.**

"Oh Cris," Robin said.

"What, it got me curious, you know how I am." Cris said.

"Sadly, I do." Remus said.

**Cris walked down the stairs as quietly as possible, though the faces in some of the portraits still turned curiously at the squeak of a floorboard, the rustle of her pajamas. She crept along the corridor below, pushed aside a tapestry about halfway along, and proceeded down a narrower staircase, a shortcut that would take her down two floors. She kept glancing down at the map, wondering… It just didn't seem in character, somehow, for correct, law-abiding Mr. Crouch to be sneaking around somebody else's office this late at night…**

**And then, halfway down the staircase, not thinking about what she was doing, not concentrating on anything but the peculiar behavior of Mr. Crouch, Cris' leg suddenly sank right through the trick step Neville always forgot to jump.**

"Great," Charlie said.

"Who helps you out?" Padfoot asked.

**She gave an ungainly wobble, and the golden egg, still damp from the bath, slipped from under her arm. She lurched forward to try and catch it, but too late; the egg fell down the long staircase with a bang as loud as a bass drum on every step - the Invisibility Cloak slipped - Cris snatched at it, and the Marauder's Map fluttered out of her hand and slid down six stairs, where, sunk in the step to above her knee, she couldn't reach it.**

"Great," Sirius said.

"Please tell me you get it back." Prongs said. Cris nodded but didn't say when.

**The golden egg fell through the tapestry at the bottom of the staircase, burst open, and began wailing loudly in the corridor below. Cris pulled out her wand and struggled to touch the Marauder's Map, to wipe it blank, but it was too far away to reach –**

"Summon it!" Charlie cried.

"I didn't think of that." Cris said sheepishly.

**Pulling the cloak back over herself, Cris straightened up, listening hard with her eyes screwed up with fear… and, almost immediately –**

**"PEEVES!" **

"At least he thinks it is Peeves." Teddy said.

"Good thing too." Cris said.

**It was the unmistakable hunting cry of Filch the caretaker. **

**Cris could hear her rapid, shuffling footsteps coming nearer and nearer, her wheezy voice raised in fury.**

**"What's this racket? Wake up the whole castle, will you? I'll have you, Peeves, I'll have you, you'll… and what is this?"**

**Filch's footsteps halted; there was a clink of metal on metal and the wailing stopped - Filch had picked up the egg and closed it. Cris stood very still, one leg still Jammed tightly in the magical step, listening. Any moment now, Filch was going to pull aside the tapestry, expecting to see Peeves… and there would be no Peeves… but if she came up the stairs, she would spot the Marauder's Map… and Invisibility Cloak or not, the map would show "Cristal Potter" standing exactly where she was.**

"Please don't let Filch find it." Padfoot said.

"That would be very bad." Keiran said.

**"Egg?" Filch said quietly at the foot of the stairs. "My sweet!" - Mrs. Norris was obviously with him - "This is a Triwizard clue! This belongs to a school champion!"**

**Cris felt sick; her heart was hammering very fast -**

**"PEEVES!" Filch roared gleefully. "You've been stealing!"**

**He ripped back the tapestry below, and Cris saw his horrible, pouchy face and bulging, pale eyes staring up the dark and (to Filch) deserted staircase.**

**"Hiding, are you?" he said softly. "I'm coming to get you, Peeves… You've gone and stolen a Triwizard clue, Peeves… Dumbledore'll have you out of here for this, you filthy, pilfering poltergeist…"**

"I'm never going to get rid of him." Dumbledore said.

"Good," the prankster said.

**Filch started to climb the stairs, his scrawny, dust-colored cat at his heels. Mrs. Morris's lamp-like eyes, so very like her masters, were fixed directly upon Cris. She had had occasion before now to wonder whether the Invisibility Cloak worked on cats… Sick with apprehension, she watched Filch drawing nearer and nearer in his old flannel dressing gown - she tried desperately to pull her trapped leg free, but it merely sank a few more inches - any second now, Filch was going to spot the map or walk right into her – **

"Both would be very bad." Tonks said.

"No kidding," Kingsley said.

**"Filch? What's going on?"**

**Filch stopped a few steps below Cris and turned. At the foot of the stairs stood the only person who could make Cris' situation worse: Snape.**

"Great, what is he doing there?" Sirius asked.

"Being a pain like always." George said.

**He was wearing a long gray nightshirt and he looked livid.**

**"It's Peeves, Professor," Filch whispered malevolently. "He threw this egg down the stairs."**

**Snape climbed up the stairs quickly and stopped beside Filch. Cris gritted her teeth, convinced her loudly thumping heart would give her away at any second…**

**"Peeves?" said Snape softly, staring at the egg in Filch's hands. "But Peeves couldn't get into my office…"**

"I was talking about something completely different." Snape said.

"No kidding," Moody said.

**"This egg was in your office. Professor?"**

**"Of course not," Snape snapped. "I heard banging and wailing -"**

**"Yes, Professor, that was the egg -"**

**"- I was coming to investigate -"**

**"- Peeves threw it. Professor -"**

**"- and when I passed my office, I saw that the torches were lit and a cupboard door was ajar! Somebody has been searching it!"**

"That was Crouch." Sirius muttered under her breath.

**"But Peeves couldn't -"**

**"I know he couldn't, Filch!" Snape snapped again. "I seal my office with a spell none but a wizard could break!" Snape looked up the stairs, straight through Cris, and then down into the corridor below. "I want you to come and help me search for the intruder, Filch."**

**"I - yes, Professor - but -"**

**Filch looked yearningly up the stairs, right through Cris, who could see that he was very reluctant to forgo the chance of cornering Peeves. Go, Cris pleaded with him silently, go with Snape… go… Mrs. Norris was peering around Filch's legs… Cris had the distinct impression that she could smell her… Why had she filled that bath with so much perfumed foam?**

**"The thing is, Professor," said Filch plaintively, "the headmaster will have to listen to me this time. Peeves has been stealing from a student, it might be my chance to get him thrown out of the castle once and for all -"**

**"Filch, I don't give a damn about that wretched poltergeist; it's my office that's -" Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. **

"Moody to the rescue." Remus said.

"Wait, Moody could see through the cloak." Prongs said.

"Oh yeah," Robin said worriedly.

**Snape stopped talking very abruptly. He and Filch both looked down at the foot of the stairs. Cris saw Mad-Eye Moody limp into sight through the narrow gap between their heads. Moody was wearing his old traveling cloak over his nightshirt and leaning on his staff as usual.**

**"Pajama party, is it?" he growled up the stairs.**

"Yep, though it isn't going very well." Fred said.

"Yeah, that's what's going on." Cris said.

**"Professor Snape and I heard noises, Professor," said Filch at once. "Peeves the Poltergeist, throwing things around as usual - and then Professor Snape discovered that someone had broken into his off -"**

**"Shut up!" Snape hissed to Filch.**

**Moody took a step closer to the foot of the stairs. Cris saw Moody's magical eye travel over Snape, and then, unmistakably, onto herself. **

"And you've been found." Scarlett said.

"That's not good," James said.

**Cris' heart gave a horrible jolt. Moody could see through Invisibility Cloaks… she alone could see the full strangeness of the scene: Snape in his nightshirt, Filch clutching the egg, and she, Cris, trapped in the stairs behind them. Moody's lopsided gash of a mouth opened in surprise. For a few seconds, he and Cris stared straight into each other's eyes. Then Moody closed his mouth and turned his blue eye upon Snape again. **

"He didn't say anything?" Bill asked.

"That's not right." Mr. Weasley said.

**"Did I hear that correctly, Snape?" he asked slowly. "Someone broke into your office?"**

**"It is unimportant," said Snape coldly.**

**"On the contrary," growled Moody, "it is very important. Who'd want to break into your office?"**

"Oh he knew who was doing the breaking in." Cris muttered darkly.

"What?" Moony asked.

"Nothing," Cris said.

**"A student, I daresay," said Snape. Cris could see a vein flickering horribly on Snape's greasy temple. "It has happened before. Potion ingredients have gone missing from my private store cupboard… students attempting illicit mixtures, no doubt…" **

Hermione grinned she did it three years ago without being seen.

**"Reckon they were after potion ingredients, eh?" said Moody. "Not hiding anything else in your office, are you?"**

**Cris saw the edge of Snape's sallow face turn a nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly.**

**"You know I'm hiding nothing, Moody," he said in a soft and dangerous voice, "as you've searched my office pretty thoroughly yourself."**

**Moody's face twisted into a smile. "Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye -"**

**"Dumbledore happens to trust me," said Snape through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"**

**"Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me - I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"**

**Snape suddenly did something very strange. He seized his left forearm convulsively with his right hand, as though something on it had hurt him.**

"It did," Snape muttered.

**Moody laughed. "Get back to bed, Snape."**

**"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere!" Snape hissed, letting go of his arm as though angry with himself. "I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"**

**"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time… You've dropped something, by the way…" **

"No!" the marauders and the twins shouted.

**With a stab of horror Cris saw Moody point at the Marauders Map, still lying on the staircase six steps below her. As Snape and Filch both turned to look at it, Cris threw caution to the winds; she raised his arms under the cloak and waved furiously at Moody to attract his attention, mouthing "It's mine! Mine!" **

"At least that's good," Sirius said.

**Snape had reached out for it, a horrible expression of dawning comprehension on his face -**

**"Accio Parchment!"**

"See you could have done that." Keiran said.

"I know, I wasn't thinking about that." Cris said.

**The map flew up into the air, slipped through Snape's outstretched fingers, and soared down the stairs into Moody's hand.**

**"My mistake," Moody said calmly. "It's mine - must've dropped it earlier -"**

**But Snape's black eyes were darting from the egg in Filch's arms to the map in Moody's hand, and Cris could tell he was putting two and two together, as only Snape could…**

**"Potter," he said quietly.**

"Great," Prongs said.

"I wasn't caught though." Cris said with a grin.

"That's my girl." Prongs said.

**"What's that?" said Moody calmly, folding up the map and pocketing it.**

**"Potter!" Snape snarled, and he actually turned his head and stared right at the place where Cris was, as though he could suddenly see her. "That egg is Potter's egg. That piece of parchment belongs to Potter. I have seen it before, I recognize it! Potter is here! Potter, in her Invisibility Cloak!"**

**Snape stretched out his hands like a blind man and began to move up the stairs; Cris could have sworn his over-large nostrils were dilating, trying to sniff Cris out - trapped. Cris leaned backward, trying to avoid Snape's fingertips, but any moment now- **

"You better not touch her." Padfoot snarled as the twins gripped her tighter.

**"There's nothing there, Snape!" barked Moody, "but I'll be happy to tell the headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Cristal Potter!"**

**"Meaning what?" Snape turned again to look at Moody, his hands still outstretched, inches from Cris' chest.**

"Man, if you even think about groping her I will castrate you with a dull plastic spoon." Lily said glaring at the potion's master. Snape's eyes widened and crossed his legs.

**"Meaning that Dumbledore's very interested to know who's got it in for that girl!" said Moody, limping nearer still to the foot of the stairs. "And so am I, Snape… very interested…" The torchlight flickered across his mangled face, so that the scars, and the chunk missing from his nose, looked deeper and darker than ever.**

**Snape was looking down at Moody, and Cris couldn't see the expression on his face. For a moment, nobody moved or said anything. Then Snape slowly lowered his hands.**

**"I merely thought," said Snape, in a voice of forced calm, "that if Potter was wandering around after hours again… it's an unfortunate habit of hers… she should be stopped. For - for her own safety."**

**"Ah, I see," said Moody softly. "Got Potter's best interests at heart, have you?"**

"Yeah right," Cris muttered.

**There was a pause. Snape and Moody were still staring at each other, Mrs. Norris gave a loud meow, still peering around Filch's legs, looking for the source of Cris' bubble-bath smell.**

**"I think I will go back to bed," Snape said curtly.**

"Good idea," Sirius said.

**"Best idea you've had all night," said Moody. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg-"**

**"No!" said Filch, clutching the egg as though it were his firstborn son. "Professor Moody, this is evidence of Peeves' treachery!" **

People shook their heads at his antics.

**"It's the property of the champion he stole it from," said Moody. "Hand it over, now."**

"At least he'll give it back to you." Tonks said.

**Snape swept downstairs and passed Moody without another word. Filch made a chirruping noise to Mrs. Norris, who stared blankly at Cris for a few more seconds before turning and following her master. Still breathing very fast. Cris heard Snape walking away down the corridor; Filch handed Moody the egg and disappeared from view too, muttering to Mrs. Norris. "Never mind my sweet… we'll see Dumbledore in the morning… tell him what Peeves was up to…"**

**A door slammed. Cris was left staring down at Moody, who placed his staff on the bottommost stair and started to climb laboriously toward him, a dull clunk on every other step.**

**"Close shave Potter," he muttered.**

"That doesn't sound right." Mr. Weasley muttered.

"What's going on with him?" Bill asked in a low tone.

**"Yeah… I - er… thanks," said Cris weakly.**

**"What is this thing?" said Moody, drawing the Marauder's Map out of his pocket and unfolding it.**

**"Map of Hogwarts," said Cris, hoping Moody was going to pull her out of the staircase soon; her leg was really hurting her.**

**"Merlin's beard," Moody whispered, staring at the map, his magical eye going haywire. "This… this is some map. Potter!"**

"That it is." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

**"Yeah, it's… quite useful," Cris said. Her eyes were starting to water from the pain. "Er - Professor Moody, d'you think you could help me -?"**

**"What? Oh! Yes… yes, of course…"**

**Moody took hold of Cris' arms and pulled; Cris' leg came free of the trick step, and she climbed onto the one above it. Moody was still gazing at the map. "Potter…" he said slowly, "you didn't happen, by any chance, to see who broke into Snape's office, did you? On this map, I mean?"**

"Yeah, but why does he want to know?" Charlie asked.

"Maybe to help find whoever broke into Snape's office." Scarlett suggested.

**"Er… yeah, I did…" Cris admitted. "It was Mr. Crouch."**

**Moody's magical eye whizzed over the entire surface of the map. He looked suddenly alarmed.**

"Of course he did," Cris muttered darkly.

**"Crouch?" he said. "You're - you're sure Potter?"**

**"Positive," said Cris.**

**"Well, he's not here anymore," said Moody, his eye still whizzing over the map. "Crouch… that's very - very interesting…"**

**He said nothing for almost a minute, still staring at the map. Cris could tell that this news meant something to Moody and very much wanted to know what it was. She wondered whether she dared ask. Moody scared her slightly… yet Moody had just helped her avoid an awful lot of trouble…**

"Which isn't like him at all." Kingsley said looking over at the Moody in the room.

**"Er… Professor Moody… why d'you reckon Mr. Crouch wanted to look around Snape's office?"**

"Because he was looking for ingredients." Ron mumbled.

**Moody's magical eye left the map and fixed, quivering, upon Cris. It was a penetrating glare, and Cris had the impression that Moody was sizing her up, wondering whether to answer or not, or how much to tell her.**

**"Put it this way Potter," Moody muttered finally, "they say old Mad-Eye's obsessed with catching Dark wizards… but I'm nothing - nothing - compared to Barty Crouch." **

"Of course, because of his son." Remus said.

**He continued to stare at the map. Cris was burning to know more.**

**"Professor Moody?" she said again. "D'you think… could this have anything to do with… maybe Mr. Crouch thinks there's something going on…"**

**"Like what?" said Moody sharply.**

"Because there are Death Eaters walking around Hogwarts." Hermione said.

"What?" Lily exclaimed wide eyed.

**Cris wondered how much she dare say. She didn't want Moody to guess that she had a source of information outside Hogwarts; that might lead to tricky questions about Sirius.**

"**I don't know," Cris muttered, "odd stuffs been happening lately, hasn't it? It's been in the Daily Prophet… the Dark Mark at the World Cup, and the Death Eaters and everything…"**

"It's a very good thing that you are very observant." Tonks said.

"Thanks," Cris said with a smile.

**Both of Moody's mismatched eyes widened.**

**"You're a sharp girl. Potter," he said. His magical eye roved back to the Marauder's Map. "Crouch could be thinking along those lines," he said slowly. "Very possible… there have been some funny rumors flying around lately - helped along by Rita Skeeter, of course. It's making a lot of people nervous, I reckon." A grim smile twisted his lopsided mouth. "Oh if there's one thing I hate," he muttered, more to himself than to Cris, and his magical eye was fixed on the left-hand corner of the map, "its a Death Eater who walked free…"**

"True," Sirius said.

**Cris stared at him. Could Moody possibly mean what Cris thought he meant?**

**"And now I want to ask you a question Potter," said Moody in a more businesslike tone.**

**Cris' heart sank; she had thought this was coming. Moody was going to ask where she had got this map, which was a very dubious magical object - and the story of how it had fallen into her hands incriminated not only her, but her own father, Fred and George Weasley, and Professor Lupin, their last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Moody waved the map in front of Cris, who braced herself-**

**"Can I borrow this?"**

"That's an odd question." Charlie said.

"Don't give it to him." Padfoot and Prongs exclaimed.

**"Oh!" said Cris.**

**She was very fond of her map, but on the other hand, she was extremely relieved that Moody wasn't asking where she'd got it, and there was no doubt that she owed Moody a favor.**

**"Yeah, okay."**

"Great," Prongs said.

"But why would Moody want it?" Moony asked quietly.

"No idea," Padfoot said shrugging.

**"Good girl," growled Moody. "I can make good use of this… this might be exactly what I've been looking for… Right, bed, Potter, come on, now…"**

**They climbed to the top of the stairs together, Moody still examining the map as though it was a treasure the like of which he had never seen before. They walked in silence to the door of Moody's office, where he stopped and looked up at Cris.**

**"You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?"**

**"No," said Cris, taken aback.**

**"You want to consider it," said Moody, nodding and looking at Cris thoughtfully. **

"That's very high praise." Kingsley said.

"And she takes it." Al said proudly. His mum is a very good Auror and mother he was proud to be her son.

**"Yes, indeed… and incidentally… I'm guessing you weren't just taking that egg for a walk tonight?"**

**"Er - no," said Cris, grinning. "I've been working out the clue."**

**Moody winked at her, his magical eye going haywire again. "Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter… See you in the morning…"**

"And you didn't get into trouble?" Bill asked quirking an eyebrow.

"Why is he acting so weird?" Charlie asked.

**He went back into his office, staring down at the Marauders Map again, and closed the door behind him.**

**Cris walked slowly back to Gryffindor Tower, lost in thought about Snape, and Crouch, and what it all meant… Why was Crouch pretending to be ill, if he could manage to get to Hogwarts when he wanted to? What did he think Snape was concealing in his office? And Moody thought she, Cris, ought to be an Auror! **

"And she is," Keiran said with a smile.

**Interesting idea… but somehow. Cris thought, as she got quietly into her four-poster ten minutes later, the egg and the cloak now safely back in her trunk, she thought she'd like to check how scarred the rest of them were before she chose it as a career.**

"You aren't that scarred mum, just a few but not to the extreme like Moody." Lily J said.

"Good," Cris said with a smile.

"That's the chapter." Ron said handing the book to Ginny.


	31. Chapter 26: The Second Task

"**Chapter 26: The Second Task," **Ginny read.

"Great, just what my nerves need." Lily said.

"It wasn't too bad." Cris said.

"How will you breathe though?" Padfoot asked.

"I'm not going to tell you though." Cris said.

"Not cool." Prongs said.

**"You said you'd already worked out that egg clue!" said Hermione indignantly. **

**"****Keep your voice down!" said Cris crossly. "I just need to - sort of fine-tune it, all right?" **

"Fine tune it is a good way to put it." Sirius said with a chuckle. Hermione turned and glared at Cris.

**She, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to themselves. They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today - the Banishing Charm. Owing to the potential for nasty accidents when objects kept flying across the room. Professor Flitwick had given each student a stack of cushions on which to practice, the theory being that these wouldn't hurt anyone if they went off target. It was a good theory, but it wasn't working very well. Neville's aim was so poor that he kept accidentally sending much heavier things flying across the room - Professor Flitwick, for instance. **

Neville blushed brightly and looked down.

"It's alright Neville, it happens." Remus said.

"Really?" he asked. Remus nodded and Neville felt better about himself.

**"****Just forget the egg for a minute, all right?" Cris hissed as Professor Flitwick went whizzing resignedly past them, landing on top of a large cabinet. "I'm trying to tell you about Snape and Moody…" **

**This class was an ideal cover for a private conversation, as everyone was having far too much fun to pay them any attention. Cris had been recounting her adventures of the previous night in whispered installments for the last half hour. **

**"****Snape said Moody's searched his office as well?" Ron whispered, his eyes alight with interest as he Banished a cushion with a sweep of his wand (it soared into the air and knocked Parvati's hat off). "What… d'you reckon Moody's here to keep an eye on Snape as well as Karkaroff?" **

"Could be." Charlie said with a shrug.

"You will find out everything at the end of the book." Cris said with a grin.

**"****Well, I dunno if that's what Dumbledore asked him to do, but he's definitely doing it," said Cris, waving her wand without paying much attention, so that her cushion did an odd sort of belly flop off the desk. "Moody said Dumbledore only lets Snape stay here because he's giving him a second chance or something…" **

"It's a bit more than that." Dumbledore said. Everyone looked from Dumbledore to Snape and back again.

**"****What?" said Ron, his eyes widening, his next cushion spinning high into the air, ricocheting off the chandelier, and dropping heavily onto Flitwick's desk. "Cris… maybe Moody thinks Snape put your name in the Goblet of Fire!" **

"I don't think he did," Lily said looking at her once best friend in the room.

**"****Oh Ron," said Hermione, shaking her head skeptically, "we thought Snape was trying to kill Cris before, and it turned out he was saving Cris' life, remember?" **

**She Banished a cushion and it flew across the room and landed in the box they were all supposed to be aiming at. Cris looked at Hermione, thinking… it was true that Snape had saved her life once, but the odd thing was, Snape definitely loathed her, just as he'd loathed Cris' father when they had been at school together.**

**Snape loved taking points from Cris, and had certainly never missed an opportunity to give her punishments, or even to suggest that she should be suspended from the school.**

"Git," Robin said.

**"****I don't care what Moody says," Hermione went on. "Dumbledore's not stupid. He was right to trust Hagrid and Professor Lupin, even though loads of people wouldn't have given them jobs, so why shouldn't he be right about Snape, even if Snape is a bit -" **

"Vindictive?" Scarlett suggested.

"Annoying," James suggested.

**"- evil," said Ron promptly.**

"That's a good word from him." Prongs said.

**"Come on, Hermione, why are all these Dark wizard catchers searching his office, then?"**

**"****Why has Mr. Crouch been pretending to be ill?" said Hermione, ignoring Ron. "It's a bit funny, isn't it, that he can't manage to come to the Yule Ball, but he can get up here in the middle of the night when he wants to?" **

"Now that doesn't make any sense at all." Mr. Weasley said.

**"****You just don't like Crouch because of that elf, Winky," said Ron, sending a cushion soaring into the window. **

"At least you're sending it somewhere." Teddy said.

"Do we want to know?" Tonks asked.

"Not really." Keiran said.

**"You just want to think Snape's up to something," said Hermione, sending her cushion zooming neatly into the box.**

**"****I just want to know what Snape did with his first chance, if he's on his second one," said Cris grimly, **

"I still want to know." Cris said studying her potion's master.

"You find out mum, but it's during seventh year." Lily J said.

**and her cushion flew straight across the room and landed neatly on top of Hermione's. **

"Good job," Lily said with a proud smile.

**Obedient to Sirius's wish of hearing about anything odd at Hogwarts, Cris sent him a letter by brown owl that night, explaining all about Mr. Crouch breaking into Snape's office, and Moody and Snape's conversation. Then Cris turned her attention in earnest to the most urgent problem facing her: how to survive underwater for an hour on the twenty-fourth of February. **

"Bubble head charm." Lily said.

"I haven't learned it yet." Cris said.

"Then you could use gillyweed." Moony said.

**Ron quite liked the idea of using the Summoning Charm again - Cris had explained about Aqua-Lungs, and Ron couldn't see why Cris shouldn't Summon one from the nearest Muggle town. Hermione squashed this plan by pointing out that, in the unlikely event that Cris managed to learn how to operate an Aqua- Lung within the set limit of an hour, she was sure to be disqualified for breaking the International Code of Wizarding Secrecy - it was too much to hope that no Muggles would spot an Aqua-Lung zooming across the countryside to Hogwarts. **

"Yeah, that would be a problem." Lily J said.

**"****Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something," Hermione said. "If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing…" **

"Don't even talk about it." Keiran said a dark look entered his eyes.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked. Teddy started laughing and Keiran glared at him.

"That's because the first time he tried it he ended up with a tail for a week." Scarlett said with a laugh. Keiran glared at his sister while the group laughed out right.

**"****Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Cris. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do it for me…" **

"I highly doubt that he would turn you into something useful." Bill said with a laugh.

**"****I don't think he'd let you choose what you wanted to be turned into, though," said Hermione seriously.**** "****No, I think your best chance is some sort of charm." **

**So Cris, thinking that she would soon have had enough of the library to last her a lifetime, buried herself once more among the dusty volumes, looking for any spell that might enable a human to survive without oxygen. However, though she, Ron, and Hermione searched through their lunchtimes, evenings, and whole weekends - though Cris asked Professor McGonagall for a note of permission to use the Restricted Section, and even asked the irritable, vulture-like librarian Madam Pince, for help - they found nothing whatsoever that would enable Cris to spend an hour underwater and live to tell the tale. **

"You just aren't looking in the section." Charlie said.

**Familiar flutterings of panic were starting to disturb Cris now, and she was finding it difficult to concentrate in class again. The lake, which Cris had always taken for granted as just another feature of the grounds, drew her eyes whenever she was near a classroom window, a great, iron-gray mass of chilly water, whose dark and icy depths were starting to seem as distant as the moon. **

**Just as it had before she faced the Horntail, time was slipping away as though somebody had bewitched the clocks to go extra-fast. There was a week to go before February the twenty-fourth (there was still time)… there were five days to go (she was bound to find something soon)… three days to go (please let me find something… please)… With two days left.**

"Oh Cris, you really shouldn't leave things like this to the last minute." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris started to go off food again. The only good thing about breakfast on Monday was the return of the brown owl she had sent to Sirius. She pulled off the parchment, unrolled it, and saw the shortest letter Sirius had ever written to Cris. **

_**Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl. **_

"Why do I have bad feeling about this?" Lily asked.

"Because it's Sirius." Prongs said.

**Cris turned the parchment over and looked at the back, hoping to see something else, but it was blank. **

**"****Weekend after next," whispered Hermione, who had read the note over Cris' shoulder. "Here - take my quill and send this owl back straight away." **

**Cris scribbled the dates down on the back of Sirius's letter, tied it onto the brown owl's leg, and watched it take flight again. What had she expected? Advice on how to survive underwater? She had been so intent on telling Sirius all about Snape and Moody she had completely forgotten to mention the eggs clue. **

**"****What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?" said Ron. **

"So he can be his insane self." Robin said with a smile.

**"****Dunno," said Cris dully. The momentary happiness that had flared inside her at the sight of the owl had died. "Come on… Care of Magical Creatures." **

**Whether Hagrid was trying to make up for the Blast-Ended Skrewts, or because there were now only two skrewts left, or because he was trying to prove he could do anything that Professor Grubbly-Plank could. Cris didn't know, but Hagrid had been continuing her lessons on unicorns ever since he'd returned to work. It turned out that Hagrid knew quite as much about unicorns as he did about monsters, though it was clear that he found their lack of poisonous fangs disappointing. **

"Seems about right." Kingsley said with a booming laugh.

**Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold.**

"Beautiful," Gwen said.

**Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them. **

**"****Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin when they're babies… don mind boys so much… C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want… give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps… **

**"****You okay Cris?" Hagrid muttered, moving aside slightly, while most of the others swarmed around the baby unicorns. **

**"****Yeah," said Cris. **

**"****Jus' nervous, eh?" said Hagrid. **

**"****Bit," said Cris. **

Her friends looked over at her and the twins started tickling her. Cris squirmed and laughed.

"You need to stop doing that Bambi." Fred said.

"Or we will bug you until the day you die." George said.

**"****Cris," said Hagrid, clapping a massive hand on her shoulder, so that Cris' knees buckled under its weight, "I'd've bin worried before I saw yeh take on tha Horntail, but I know now yeh can do anythin' yeh set yer mind ter. I'm not worried at all. Yeh're goin ter be fine. Got yer clue worked out, haven' yeh?" **

"This time you don't have to lie." Ginny said.

**Cris nodded, but even as she did so, an insane urge to confess that she didn't have any idea how to survive at the bottom of the lake for an hour came over her. She looked up at Hagrid - perhaps he had to go into the lake sometimes, to deal with the creatures in it? He looked after everything else on the grounds, after all- **

**"****Yeh're goin' ter win," Hagrid growled, patting Cris' shoulder again, so that Cris actually felt herself sink a couple of inches into the soft ground. "I know it. I can feel it. Yeh're goin' ter win, Cris" **

**Cris just couldn't bring herself to wipe the happy, confident smile off Hagrid's face. Pretending she was interested in the young unicorns, she forced a smile in return, and moved forward to pat them with the others. **

**By the evening before the second task Cris felt as though she were trapped in a nightmare. She was fully aware that even if, by some miracle, she managed to find a suitable spell, she'd have a real job mastering it overnight. How could she have let this happen? Why hadn't she got to work on the egg's clue sooner? **

"Because you are the queen of procrastination." Hermione said.

"Thanks Mia," Cris said.

"You're welcome Bolt." Hermione said.

**Why had she ever let her mind wander in class - what if a teacher had once mentioned how to breathe underwater? **

"They didn't," Hermione said.

"I know, you would have told me." Cris said.

**She sat with Hermione and Ron in the library as the sun set outside, tearing feverishly through page after page of spells, hidden from one another by the massive piles of books on the desk in front of each of them. Cris' heart gave a huge leap every time she saw the word "water" on a page, but more often than not it was merely "Take two pints of water, half a pound of shredded mandrake leaves, and a newt…" **

"That's the problem with it." Remus said.

**"****I don't reckon it can be done," said Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table. "There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake." **

"Nope, and you would get into a lot of trouble." Remus said.

"**There must be something," Hermione muttered, moving a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes with her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable." **

"**They have," said Ron. "Cris, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate." **

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley cried as the rest of the group burst out laughing.

**"****There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly. "There just has to be!" **

**She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before. **

**"****I know what I should have done," said Cris, resting, face-down, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius." **

"So that's where the idea came from." Sirius muttered so that nobody else can hear him.

"**You know Cris, that's a good idea. Maybe not for the task but when dealing with Voldemort." Hermione said. Ron and Cris looked over at her with different expressions. Cris' face has that mischievous glint and Ron was just confused. **

"You didn't." Bill said looking at the three.

"Maybe," they said.

"Miss Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley did the three of you work on becoming animagi to fight against Voldemort?" McGonagall asked.

"We might as well tell them." Ron said.

"You so totally did." Charlie said with a laugh.

"But that's dangerous." Mrs. Weasley said with a worried expression. Dumbledore had a twinkle in his eyes looking at the three of them.

"I won't ask what your forms are, however I do suggest you speak to an adult before you try something like this again." Dumbledore said. They nodded and Ginny continued reading.

"**I know we wouldn't be able to do it by tomorrow but that is an awesome idea." Cris said.**

"**What are you saying that we actually try this like the Marauders?" Ron asked.**

"**Now you're getting it Red," Cris said with a smile. Ron had a smile on his face as Hermione leaned forward to talk to them without being heard.**

"**We won't try it now, we'll get to it after the second task." She said.**

"**Good thinking," Cris said going back to the book in front of her. **

"You three will be the death of me." Mrs. Weasley said rubbing her face.

**"****Oh this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?" **

**"****I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasleys voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?" **

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves. Cris felt her face heat up but she fought to keep it down.**

"It didn't work." The twins said with a chuckle.

**"****What're you two doing here?" Ron asked. **

**"****Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you, Hermione." **

"Why?" Lily asked.

"You'll find out." Hermione said.

**"****Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised. **

**"Dunno… she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred.**

"Of course she would be." Fred said with a whisper.

**"****We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George. **

**Ron and Hermione stared at Cris, who felt her stomach drop. Was Professor McGonagall about to tell Ron and Hermione off? Perhaps she'd noticed how much they were helping her, when she ought to be working out how to do the task alone? **

"That not why they were called." Cris said.

**"****We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Cris as she got up to go with Ron - both of them looked very anxious. "Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?" **

**"****Right," said Cris uneasily. **

**By eight o'clock Madam Pince had extinguished all the lamps and came to chivvy Cris out of the library. Staggering under the weight of as many books as she could carry, Cris returned to the Gryffindor common room, pulled a table into a corner, and continued to search. There was nothing in Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks… nothing in A Guide to Medieval Sorcery… not one mention of underwater exploits in An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Charms, or in Dreadful Denizens of the Deep, or Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do with Them Now You've Wised Up. **

**Crookshanks crawled into Cris' lap and curled up, purring deeply. The common room emptied slowly around Cris. People kept wishing her luck for the next morning in cheery, confident voices like Hagrid's, all of them apparently convinced that she was about to pull off another stunning performance like the one she had managed in the first task. **

"But they won't be able to see the task though." Gwen said.

**Cris couldn't answer them, she just nodded, feeling as though there were a golf ball stuck in her throat. By ten to midnight, she was alone in the room with Crookshanks. She had searched all the remaining books, and Ron and Hermione had not come back. **

"Where are you guys?" Prongs asked.

"You'll find out." The group said.

**It's over, she told herself. You can't do it. You'll just have to go down to the lake in the morning and tell the judges… **

"Don't do that." Gwen said.

"You'll figure something out." Lily said.

**She imagined herself explaining that she couldn't do the task. She pictured Bagman's look of round-eyed surprise, Karkaroff's satisfied, yellow-toothed smile. She could almost hear Fleur Delacour saying "I knew it… she is too young, she is only a little girl." She saw Malfoy flashing his POTTER STINKS badge at the front of the crowd, saw Hagrid s crestfallen, disbelieving face… **

**Forgetting that Crookshanks was on her lap. Cris stood up very suddenly; Crookshanks hissed angrily as he landed on the floor, gave Cris a disgusted look, and stalked away with his bottlebrush tail in the air, but Cris was already hurrying up the spiral staircase to her dormitory… She would grab the Invisibility Cloak and go back to the library, she'd stay there all night if she had to… **

"That's not a bad idea." Moony said.

**"****Lumos," Cris whispered fifteen minutes later as she opened the library door. **

"There isn't much security in there is there?" Charlie asked.

"Nope," Cris said.

**Wand tip alight, she crept along the bookshelves, pulling down more books – books of hexes and charms, books on merpeople and water monsters, books on famous witches and wizards, on magical inventions, on anything at all that might include one passing reference to underwater survival. She carried them over to a table, then set to work, searching them by the narrow beam of her wand, occasionally checking her watch… **

**One in the morning… two in the morning… the only way she could keep going was to tell herself, over and over again, next book… in the next one… the next one… **

**The mermaid in the painting in the prefects' bathroom was laughing. Cris was bobbing like a cork in bubbly water next to her rock, while she held her Firebolt over her head. **

"Oh great it's one of your freaky dreams." Gwen said.

**"****Come and get it!" she giggled maliciously. "Come on, jump!" **

**"****I can't," Cris panted, snatching at the Firebolt, and struggling not to sink. "Give it to me!" **

**But she just poked her painfully in the side with the end of the broomstick, laughing at her. **

**"****That hurts - get off- ouch -" **

**"****Cristal Potter must wake up, miss!" **

"Dobby," the group said.

**"****Stop poking me -" **

**"****Dobby must poke Cristal Potter, miss, she must wake up!" **

**Cris opened her eyes. She was still in the library; the Invisibility Cloak had slipped off her head as she'd slept, and the side of her face was stuck to the pages of Where There's a Wand, There's a Way. She sat up, straightening her glasses, blinking in the bright daylight. **

**"****Cristal Potter needs to hurry!" squeaked Dobby. "The second task starts in ten minutes, and Cristal Potter -" **

"Bloody hell, you're cutting it close." Sirius said.

"Just a bit." Cris said.

**"****Ten minutes?" Cris croaked. "Ten - ten minutes?" **

**She looked down at her watch. Dobby was right. It was twenty past nine. A large, dead weight seemed to fall through Cris' chest into her stomach. **

**"****Hurry, Cristal Potter!" squeaked Dobby, plucking at Cris' sleeve. "You is supposed to be down by the lake with the other champions, miss!" **

**"****It's too late, Dobby," Cris said hopelessly. "I'm not doing the task, I don't know how-" **

"I think Dobby has something to help you." Robin said.

**"****Cristal Potter will do the task!" squeaked the elf. "Dobby knew Cristal had not found the right book, so Dobby did it for her!" **

"What is it?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**"****What?" said Cris. "But you don't know what the second task is -" **

**"****Dobby knows, miss! Cristal Potter has to go into the lake and find her Wheezy -" **

"Wheezy?" Ron asked.

"Does he mean Weasley?" Bill asked.

"Possibly," Ron said.

**"Find my what?" **

**"- and take her Wheezy back from the merpeople!" **

"Wait, they took people to the bottom of the lake?" Lily asked worriedly.

"No, they didn't do that." Prongs said.

**"What's a Wheezy?" **

"A character from a cute movie." Lily J said.

"What?" the group asked.

"A movie that comes out in a few years." James said.

"Oh," they said.

**"Your Wheezy, miss, your Wheezy-Wheezy who is giving Dobby his sweater!"**

"They took Ron to the bottom of the lake?" Mr. Weasley asked wide eyed.

"Relax Dad, I'm fine." Ron said.

**Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he was now wearing over his shorts. **

**"What?" Cris gasped. "They've got… they've got Ron?" **

**"The thing Cristal Potter will miss most, miss!" squeaked Dobby. "'But past an hour- '" **

**"- 'the prospect's black,'" Cris recited, staring, horror-struck, at the elf. "'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'**

"I don't think they would actually take them." Tonks said.

**Dobby - what've I got to do?" **

**"You has to eat this, miss!" squeaked the elf, and he put his hand in the pocket of his shorts and drew out a ball of what looked like slimy, grayish-green rat tails.**

"Gillyweed." Neville said.

"So the house elf took it from my stocks." Snape said.

**"Right before you go into the lake, sir - gillyweed!" **

**"What's it do?" said Cris, staring at the gillyweed. **

**"It will make Cristal Potter breathe underwater, miss!" **

**"Dobby," said Cris frantically, "listen - are you sure about this?" **

**She couldn't quite forget that the last time Dobby had tried to "help" her; she had ended up with no bones in her right arm. **

"That was Lockhart's fault not his." Remus said.

**"Dobby is quite sure, miss!" said the elf earnestly. "Dobby hears things, miss, he is a house-elf, he goes all over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the floors. Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the next task… Dobby cannot let Cristal Potter lose her Wheezy!" **

**Cris' doubts vanished. Jumping to her feet she pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, stuffed it into her bag, grabbed the gillyweed, and put it into her pocket, then tore out of the library with Dobby at her heels. **

**"Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, miss!" Dobby squealed as they burst into the corridor. "Dobby will be missed - good luck, Cristal Potter, miss, good luck!" **

**"See you later, Dobby!" Cris shouted, and she sprinted along the corridor and down the stairs, three at a time. **

"Don't break anything." Lily said.

**The entrance hall contained a few last-minute stragglers, all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast and heading through the double oak doors to watch the second task. **

**They stared as Cris flashed past, sending Colin and Dennis Creevey flying as she leapt down the stone steps and out onto the bright, chilly grounds. **

"You should know, they thought you were Flash." Ginny said.

"Man if I was Flash, there would be no need for brooms." Cris said with a laugh.

**As she pounded down the lawn she saw that the seats that had encircled the dragons' enclosure in November were now ranged along the opposite bank, rising in stands that were packed to the bursting point and reflected in the lake below. The excited babble of the crowd echoed strangely across the water as Cris ran flat-out around the other side of the lake toward the judges, who were sitting at another gold-draped table at the water's edge. Cedric, Fleur, and Krum were beside the judges' table, watching Cris sprint toward them. **

**"I'm… here…" Cris panted, skidding to a halt in the mud and accidentally splattering Fleur's robes. **

"Sorry," Cris said.

"Eet's fine." Fleur said with a smile.

**"Where have you been?" said a bossy, disapproving voice. "The task's about to start!" **

"My consciousness was playing tricks on my mind." Cris said. The group laughed at that.

"There's your father in you again." Moony said.

**Cris looked around. Percy Weasley was sitting at the judges' table - Mr. Crouch had failed to turn up again. **

"What is up with him?" Gwen asked.

"Who knows." Padfoot said.

**"Now, now, Percy!" said Ludo Bagman, who was looking intensely relieved to see Cris. "Let her catch her breath!" **

**Dumbledore smiled at Cris, but Karkaroff and Madame Maxime didn't look at all pleased to see her… It was obvious from the looks on their faces that they had thought she wasn't going to turn up. **

**Cris bent over, hands on her knees, gasping for breath; she had a stitch in her side that felt as though she had a knife between her ribs, but there was no time to get rid of it; Ludo Bagman was now moving among the champions, spacing them along the bank at intervals of ten feet. Cris was on the very end of the line, next to Krum, who was wearing swimming trunks and was holding his wand ready.**

**"All right. Cris?" Bagman whispered as he moved Cris a few feet farther away from Krum. "Know what you're going to do?" **

**"Yeah," Cris panted, massaging her ribs. **

"That's not a good idea to be out of breath." Remus said.

**Bagman gave Cris' shoulder a quick squeeze and returned to the judges' table; he pointed his wand at his throat as he had done at the World Cup, said, "Sonorus!" and his voice boomed out across the dark water toward the stands. **

**"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… three!" **

**The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause; without looking to see what the other champions were doing, Cris pulled off her shoes and socks, pulled the handful of gillyweed out of her pocket, stuffed it into her mouth, and waded out into the lake. **

"Hopefully it's fresh." Moony said.

**It was so cold she felt the skin on her legs searing as though this were fire, not icy water. Her sodden robes weighed her down as she walked in deeper; now the water was over her knees, and her rapidly numbing feet were slipping over silt and flat, slimy stones. She was chewing the gillyweed as hard and fast as she could; it felt unpleasantly slimy and rubbery, like octopus tentacles.**

"Then it's fresh." Neville said.

**Waist-deep in the freezing water she stopped, swallowed, and waited for something to happen. **

**She could hear laughter in the crowd and knew she must look stupid, walking into the lake without showing any sign of magical power. **

**The part of her that was still dry was covered in goose pimples; half immersed in the icy water, a cruel breeze lifting her hair, Cris started to shiver violently. She avoided looking at the stands; the laughter was becoming louder, and there were catcalls and jeering from the Slytherins… **

**Then, quite suddenly, Cris felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over her mouth and nose. She tried to draw breath, but it made her head spin; her lungs were empty, and she suddenly felt a piercing pain on either side of her neck - Cris clapped her hands around her throat and felt two large slits just below her ears, flapping in the cold air… She had gills. **

"That's awesome." Gwen said.

"It was really fun." Cris said.

**Without pausing to think she did the only thing that made sense - she flung herself forward into the water.**

**The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the breath of life. Her head had stopped spinning: she took another great gulp of water and felt it pass smoothly through her gills, sending oxygen back to her brain. She stretched out her hands in front of ham and stared at them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed. She twisted around and looked at her bare feet - they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too: It looked as though she had sprouted flippers. **

"That's so weird." Gwen said.

"Yep," Cris said.

**The water didn't feel icy anymore either… on the contrary, she felt pleasantly cool and very light… Cris struck out once more, marveling at how far and fast her flipper-like feet propelled her through the water, and noticing how clearly she could see, and how she no longer seemed to need to blink. She had soon swum so far into the lake that she could no longer see the bottom. She flipped over and dived into its depths. **

**Silence pressed upon her ears as she soared over a strange, dark, foggy landscape. She could only see ten feet around her, so that as she sped through the water new scenes seemed to loom suddenly out of the incoming darkness: forests of rippling, tangled black weed, wide plains of mud littered with dull, glimmering stones. She swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, her eyes wide, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around her to the shadow beyond, where the water became opaque. **

"It sounds pretty." Gwen said.

"It was pretty." Cris said.

**Small fish flickered past her like silver darts. Once or twice she thought she saw something larger moving ahead of her, but when she got nearer, she discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of any of the other champions, merpeople, Ron - nor, thankfully, the giant squid. **

**Light green weed stretched ahead of her as far as she could see, two feet deep, like a meadow of very overgrown grass. **

"Don't go near there." Remus said.

"I kind of forgot about that part." Cris said.

**Cris was staring unblinkingly ahead of her, trying to discern shapes through the gloom… and then, without warning, something grabbed hold of her ankle. **

**Cris twisted her body around and saw a grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Cris' leg, its pointed fangs bared - Cris stuck her webbed hand quickly inside her robes and fumbled for her wand. By the time she had grasped it; two more grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of Cris' robes, and were attempting to drag her down. **

**"Relashio!" Cris shouted, **

"At least you remembered that part." Remus said with a shake of his head.

**except that no sound came out… A large bubble issued from her mouth, and her wand, instead of sending sparks at the grindylows, pelted them with what seemed to be a jet of boiling water, for where it struck them, angry red patches appeared on their green skin. **

"Hey it works underwater." Charlie said.

**Cris pulled her ankle out of the grindylows grip and swam, as fast as she could, occasionally sending more jets of hot water over her shoulder at random; **

"Good job, no wonder you're a good Auror." Remus said.

**every now and then she felt one of the grindylows snatch at her foot again, and she kicked out, hard; finally, she felt her foot connect with a horned skull, and looking back, saw the dazed grindylow floating away, cross-eyed, while its fellows shook their fists at Cris and sank back into the weed. **

**Cris slowed down a little, slipped her wand back inside her robes, and looked around, listening again. She turned full circle in the water, the silence pressing harder than ever against her eardrums. She knew she must be even deeper in the lake now, but nothing was moving but the rippling weed.**

**"How are you getting on?"**

"Wait, what was that?" Bill asked.

"Another champion." Charlie suggested.

"Could be," Tonks said.

**Cris thought she was having a heart attack. She whipped around and saw Moaning Myrtle**

"Her again," Kingsley said.

"She's fond of me." Cris said with a shrug.

**floating hazily in front of her, gazing at her through her thick, pearly glasses. **

**"Myrtle!" Cris tried to shout - but once again, nothing came out of her mouth but a very large bubble. Moaning Myrtle actually giggled.**

"I've never thought that Myrtle would actually giggle." Padfoot said.

"You'd be surprised." Cris said.

**"You want to try over there!" she said, pointing. "I won't come with you… I don't like them much, they always chase me when I get too close…" **

**Cris gave her the thumbs-up to show her thanks and set off once more, careful to swim a bit higher over the weed to avoid any more grindylows that might be lurking there. **

"Good thinking." Remus said.

**She swam on for what felt like at least twenty minutes. She was passing over vast expanses of black mud now, which swirled murkily as she disturbed the water. Then, at long last, she heard a snatch of haunting mersong. **

**"**_**An hour long you**_**'**_**ll have to look, **_

_**And to recover what we took…" **_

**Cris swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Cris swam on past the rock, following the mersong. **

**"… **_**your time**_**'**_**s half gone, so tarry not **_

_**Lest what you seek stays here to rot…" **_

Some of the group shuddered at the thought.

**A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Cris saw faces… faces that bore no resemblance at all to the painting of the mermaid in the prefects' bathroom… **

"No they wouldn't be." Bill said.

"But I thought they were supposed to be pretty." Gwen said.

"No, just myths Muggles have." Robin said.

**The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Cris as she swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch her better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands. **

"Well they certainly don't sound like Ariel." Gwen said.

"Nope, not in the slightest." Viktor said.

**Cris sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of weed around some of them, and she even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. **

"Well, um, I have absolutely no comment for that." Prongs said.

"That's a first." Lily said.

**Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching her eagerly, pointing at her webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another.**

"It's probably because you thought outside of the box, or rather Dobby thought outside the box." Remus said.

**Cris sped around a corner and a very strange sight met her eyes. **

**A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.**

"Well we know Ron and Hermione are there but who are the other two?" Bill wondered.

**Ron was tied between Hermione and Cho Chang. There was also a girl who looked no older than eight, whose clouds of silvery hair made Cris feel sure that she was Fleur Delacour's sister.**

"She es." Fleur said.

"I know now, it was just an educated guess." Cris said.

**All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths. **

**Cris sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at her, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong. For a fleeting second she thought of the knife Sirius had bought her for Christmas - locked in her trunk in the castle a quarter of a mile away, no use to her whatsoever. **

"Damn, you should have brought it with me." Sirius said.

"Hind sight is always 20/20." Cris said.

"Isn't it always." Hermione said with a smile.

**She looked around. Many of the merpeople surrounding them were carrying spears. She swam swiftly toward a seven-foot-tall merman with a long green beard and a choker of shark fangs and tried to mime a request to borrow the spear. The merman laughed and shook his head. **

**"We do not help," he said in a harsh, croaky voice. **

"Diffindo would help." Bill said.

"I had many things on my mind." Cris said.

**"Come ON!" Cris said fiercely (but only bubbles issued from her mouth), and she tried to pull the spear away from the merman, but the merman yanked it back, still shaking his head and laughing. **

**Cris swirled around, staring about. Something sharp… anything… **

**There were rocks littering the lake bottom. She dived and snatched up a particularly jagged one and returned to the statue. She began to hack at the ropes binding Ron, and after several minutes' hard work, they broke apart. Ron floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water. **

"Now get out of there." Sirius said.

"Do you really think that Cris would really do that?" Remus asked.

"No, but it was a hope." Sirius said.

**Cris looked around. There was no sign of any of the other champions. What were they playing at? Why didn't they hurry up? **

**She turned back to Hermione, raised the jagged rock, and began to hack at her bindings too – **

**At once, several pairs of strong gray hands seized her. Half a dozen mermen were pulling her away from Hermione, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing. **

**"You take your own hostage," one of them said to her. "Leave the others…" **

**"No way!" said Cris furiously - but only two large bubbles came out. **

"Cris and her hero complex is showing again." Ginny said.

"I wasn't about to leave any of them down there." Cris said.

"And that is why we love you." Fred said kissing her cheek.

"You care about others more than yourself." George said.

**"Your task is to retrieve your own friend… leave the others…" **

**"She's my friend too!" Cris yelled, gesturing toward Hermione, an enormous silver bubble emerging soundlessly from her lips. "And I don't want them to die either!"**

"They won't die." Mr. Weasley said.

"I didn't know that, all I knew was what the song said and I took it seriously." Cris said.

**Cho's head was on Hermione's shoulder; the small silver-haired girl was ghostly green and pale. **

Fleur shivered at that thought.

**Cris struggled to fight off the mermen, but they laughed harder than ever, holding her back. Cris looked wildly around. Where were the other champions? Would she have time to take Ron to the surface and come back down for Hermione and the others? Would she be able to find them again? She looked down at her watch to see how much time was left - it had stopped working. **

**But then the merpeople around her pointed excitedly over her head. Cris looked up and saw Cedric swimming toward them. There was an enormous bubble around his head, which made his features look oddly wide and stretched. **

"The Bubble Head charm." Robin said.

**"Got lost!" he mouthed, looking panic-stricken. "Fleur and Krum're coming now!" **

**Feeling enormously relieved, Cris watched Cedric pull a knife out of his pocket and cut Cho free. He pulled her upward and out of sight. **

**Cris looked around, waiting. Where were Fleur and Krum? Time was getting short, and according to the song, the hostages would be lost after an hour… **

**The merpeople started screeching animatedly. Those holding Cris loosened their grip, staring behind them. Cris turned and saw something monstrous cutting through the water toward them: a human body in swimming trunks with the head of a shark… It was Krum. **

"Not a bad idea." Sirius said.

"It vas different." Viktor said.

**He appeared to have transfigured himself- but badly. **

**The shark-man swam straight to Hermione and began snapping and biting at her ropes; **

"I could have gotten hurt." Hermione said glaring at Viktor.

"I vas careful." Viktor said.

**the trouble was that Krum's new teeth were positioned very awkwardly for biting anything smaller than a dolphin, and Cris was quite sure that if Krum wasn't careful, he was going to rip Hermione in half. Darting forward Cris hit Krum hard on the shoulder and held up the jagged stone. Krum seized it and began to cut Hermione free.**

"Thanks for that." Hermione said.

"Anytime Mia." Cris said.

**Within seconds, he had done it; he grabbed Hermione around the waist, and without a backward glance, began to rise rapidly with her toward the surface. **

**Now what? Cris thought desperately. If she could be sure that Fleur was coming… But still no sign. There was nothing to be done except… **

**She snatched up the stone, which Krum had dropped, but the mermen now closed in around Ron and the little girl, shaking their heads at her. Cris pulled out her wand. **

"That's not the best idea." Remus said.

**"Get out of the way!" **

**Only bubbles flew out of her mouth, but she had the distinct impression that the mermen had understood her, because they suddenly stopped laughing. Their yellowish eyes were fixed upon Cris' wand, and they looked scared. There might be a lot more of them than there were of her, but Cris could tell, by the looks on their faces, that they knew no more magic than the giant squid did. **

"True," Charlie said.

**"You've got until three!" Cris shouted; a great stream of bubbles burst from her, but she held up three fingers to make sure they got the message. "One…" (she put down a finger) "two…" (she put down a second one) - They scattered. Cris darted forward and began to hack at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue, and at last she was free. She seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed the neck of Ron's robes, and kicked off from the bottom. **

"I hope you can get to the surface on time." Lily said.

**It was very slow work. She could no longer use her webbed hands to propel herself forward; she worked her flippers furiously, but Ron and Fleur's sister were like potato-filled sacks dragging her back down… She fixed her eyes skyward, though she knew she must still be very deep, the water above her was so dark… **

**Merpeople were rising with her. She could see them swirling around her with ease, watching her struggle through the water… Would they pull her back down to the depths when the time was up? Did they perhaps eat humans? **

"They don't," Charlie said.

"I know that now." Cris said.

**Cris' legs were seizing up with the effort to keep swimming; her shoulders were aching horribly with the effort of dragging Ron and the girl… **

**She was drawing breath with extreme difficulty. She could feel pain on the sides of her neck again… **

"Crap," Prongs said.

**she was becoming very aware of how wet the water was in her mouth… yet the darkness was definitely thinning now… she could see daylight above her… **

**She kicked hard with her flippers and discovered that they were nothing more than feet… water was flooding through her mouth into her lungs… she was starting to feel dizzy, but she knew light and air were only ten feet above her… she had to get there… she had to… **

"You can do it." Gwen said.

**Cris kicked her legs so hard and fast it felt as though her muscles were screaming in protest; her very brain felt waterlogged, she couldn't breathe, she needed oxygen, she had to keep going, she could not stop – **

**And then she felt her head break the surface of the lake; **

"Finally," Mrs. Weasley said.

**wonderful, cold, clear air was making her wet face sting; she gulped it down, feeling as though she had never breathed properly before, and, panting, pulled Ron and the little girl up with her. All around her, wild, green-haired heads were emerging out of the water with her, but they were smiling at her. **

"They admire you." Padfoot said.

**The crowd in the stands was making a great deal of noise; shouting and screaming, they all seemed to be on their feet; Cris had the impression they thought that Ron and the little girl might be dead, but they were wrong… both of them had opened their eyes; the girl looked scared and confused, but Ron merely expelled a great spout of water, blinked in the bright light, turned to Cris, and said, "Wet, this, isn't it?" Then he spotted Fleur's sister. "What did you bring her for?" **

"Ron, that's not right." Hermione said.

"I know." Ron said.

**"Fleur didn't turn up, I couldn't leave her," Cris panted. **

**"Cris, you prat," said Ron, "you didn't take that song thing seriously, did you? Dumbledore wouldn't have let any of us drown!" **

**"The song said -" **

**"It was only to make sure you got back inside the time limit!" said Ron. "I hope you didn't waste time down there acting the hero!"**

"If Cris wasn't acting the hero the world would end." Hermione said.

"Very true." Ginny said.

**Cris felt both stupid and annoyed. It was all very well for Ron; he'd been asleep, he hadn't felt how eerie it was down in the lake, surrounded by spear-carrying merpeople who'd looked more than capable of murder. **

"They wouldn't hurt you, I don't think." Charlie said.

"They wouldn't." Dumbledore said.

**"C'mon," Cris said shortly, "help me with her, I don't think she can swim very well." **

**They pulled Fleur's sister through the water, back toward the bank where the judges stood watching, twenty merpeople accompanying them like a guard of honor, singing their horrible screechy songs. **

**Cris could see Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione, Krum, Cedric, and Cho, all of whom were wrapped in thick blankets. **

"Well yeah, they did it in the middle of winter." Tonks said.

**Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Cris and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them. **

"You were so worried about us then and now it's different." Ron murmured.

"It's alright Red," Hermione said.

**Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water. **

**"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?" **

**"She's fine!" Cris tried to tell her, but she was so exhausted she could hardly talk, let alone shout. **

**Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!"); Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Cris upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister. **

**"It was ze grindylows… zey attacked me… oh Gabrielle, I thought… I thought…" **

"I wasn't used to zem, we do not 'ave zem at Beauxbatons." Fleur said.

**"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey. She seized Cris and pulled her over to Hermione and the others, wrapped her so tightly in a blanket that she felt as though she were in a straitjacket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down her throat. **

**Steam gushed out of her ears. **

"Ah, Pepper-Up potion." Prongs said.

**"Cris, well done!" Hermione cried. "You did it, you found out how all by yourself!" **

"Or not," Hermione said.

**"Well -" said Cris. She would have told her about Dobby, but she had just noticed Karkaroff watching her. He was the only judge who had not left the table; the only judge not showing signs of pleasure and relief that Cris, Ron, and Fleur's sister had got back safely. "Yeah, that's right," said Cris, raising her voice slightly so that Karkaroff could hear her. **

**"You haff a water beetle in your hair, Herm-own-ninny," said Krum. Cris had the impression that Krum was drawing her attention back onto himself; perhaps to remind her that he had just rescued her from the lake, but Hermione brushed away the beetle impatiently and said,**

"Man, I could have crushed it." Hermione said.

"That would have fixed a lot of problems." Cris said.

**"You're well outside the time limit, though, Cris… Did it take you ages to find us?" **

**"No… I found you okay…" **

**Cris' feeling of stupidity was growing. Now she was out of the water, it seemed perfectly clear that Dumbledore's safety precautions wouldn't have permitted the death of a hostage just because their champion hadn't turned up. Why hadn't she just grabbed Ron and gone? She would have been first back… Cedric and Krum hadn't wasted time worrying about anyone else; they hadn't taken the mersong seriously… **

**Dumbledore was crouching at the water's edge, deep in conversation with what seemed to be the chief merperson, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female. He was making the same sort of screechy noises that the merpeople made when they were above water; clearly, Dumbledore could speak Mermish. Finally he straightened up, turned to his fellow judges, and said, "A conference before we give the marks, I think." **

"They are going to give you extra points for being a noble git." Bill said.

"It's about right." Sirius said.

**The judges went into a huddle. Madam Pomfrey had gone to rescue Ron from Percy's clutches; she led him over to Cris and the others, gave him a blanket and some Pepperup Potion, then went to fetch Fleur and her sister. Fleur had many cuts on her face and arms and her robes were torn, but she didn't seem to care, nor would she allow Madam Pomfrey to clean them.**

"I was more worried about Gabrielle." Fleur said.

**"Look after Gabrielle," she told her, and then she turned to Cris. "You saved 'er," she said breathlessly. "Even though she was not your 'ostage." **

**"Yeah," said Cris, who was now heartily wishing she'd left all three girls tied to the statue. **

"Cris," Lily said.

"I know," Cris said.

**Fleur bent down, kissed Cris twice on each cheek then said to Ron, "And you too-you 'elped" **

"Not really." Cris said.

**"Yeah," said Ron, looking extremely hopeful, "yeah, a bit -" **

**Fleur swooped down on him too and kissed him. Hermione looked simply furious, **

"Good grief, even then." Cris said.

**but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet. **

**"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows… **

**"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points." **

**Applause from the stands. **

**"I deserved zero," said Fleur throatily, shaking her magnificent head. **

"You gave a valiant effort." Tonks said.

**"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." **

"Man, you must have been well past the time limit." Padfoot said.

**Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd; Cris saw Cho give Cedric a glowing look. **

**"We therefore award him forty-seven points." **

**Cris' heart sank. If Cedric had been outside the time limit, she most certainly had been. **

**"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."**

**Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior. **

"Of course he did." Keiran said.

**"Cristal Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "She returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Miss Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in her return was due to her determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely her own." **

**Ron and Hermione both gave Cris half-exasperated, half-commiserating looks. **

**"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However… Miss Potter's score is forty-five points."**

"Very nice," Teddy said.

**Cris' stomach leapt - she was now tied for first place with Cedric. Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared Cris Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd. **

**"There you go. Cris!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all - you were showing moral fiber!" **

"That's Cris for you." Scarlett said.

"Yep, she would make everyone is out of the burning building before she gets out as well." Gwen said.

"I'm not that bad." Cris said.

"Yes you are," the group said.

**Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Cris to listen. **

**"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June,"**

Cris winced and looked down willing the tears to go away.

**continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions." **

**It was over. Cris thought dazedly, as Madam Pomfrey began herding the champions and hostages back to the castle to get into dry clothes… it was over, she had got through… she didn't have to worry about anything now until June the twenty-fourth…**

"No, that is the beginning of everything to happen." Cris said under her breath and buried herself into George's chest as he and Fred held her, they weren't keen to figure out what happened to her in that maze.

**Next time she was in Hogsmeade, Cris decided as she walked back up the stone steps into the castle, she was going to buy Dobby a pair of socks for every day of the year.**

"That's the chapter." Ginny said pacing the book.

"Did you get him socks?" Lily asked.

"I kind of forgot about it." Cris said.

"It's okay, you can't always remember everything you were going to do." Prongs said.

"You don't know the reason behind it though." Cris said under her breath. She looked down at the scar on her forearm and shivered, her father and young godfather were going to skin Peter alive for what he did to me.


	32. Chapter 27: Padfoot Returns

"I'm going to start on dinner." Mrs. Weasley said before Neville could start the next chapter. Mrs. Weasley got up and started to the kitchen.

"Do you want us to continue reading?" Tonks asked.

"Go ahead, I can hear you." Mrs. Weasley said. Neville went ahead and picked up the book and started where Ginny left out.

"**Chapter 27: Padfoot Returns," **Neville read.

"Just don't do anything stupid Paddy." Prongs said.

"You know me," Sirius said.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Prongs said.

**One of the best things about the aftermath of the second task was that everybody was very keen to hear details of what had happened down in the lake, which meant that Ron was getting to share Cris' limelight for once. **

"And I learned that it wasn't much." Ron said.

"I could have told you that." Charlie said.

**Cris noticed that Ron's version of events changed subtly with every retelling. At first, he gave what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with Hermione's story, anyway - Dumbledore had put all the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor McGonagall's office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe, and would awake when they were back above the water.**

"So that's what happened." Kingsley said.

**One week later, however, Ron was telling a thrilling tale of kidnap in which he struggled single-handedly against fifty heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission before tying him up.**

"Oh my god, really?" Gwen asked.

"Ron has quite the imagination." Cris said.

"No kidding," Robin said.

**"****But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve," he assured Padma Patil, who seemed to be a lot keener on Ron now that he was getting so much attention and was making a point of talking to him every time they passed in the corridors. "I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted."**

"No you couldn't." Bill said.

"I know," Ron said blushing bright red.

**"****What were you going to do, snore at them?" said Hermione waspishly. People had been teasing her so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood.**

**Ron's ears went red, and thereafter, he reverted to the bewitched sleep version of events.**

"There you go." Sirius said.

**As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Cris had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Cris had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again.**

"Poor Owl," Gwen said.

**Sirius's letter was almost as short as the previous one.**

_**Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can.**_

"Why did you go back to Hogsmeade?" Moony asked.

"I wanted to be closer, be there in case something happens to Cris." Sirius said.

**"****He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously.**

**"****It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione.**

**"****I can't believe him," said Cris tensely, "if he's caught…"**

**"****Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore."**

"Good thing too." Sirius said with a shudder. Robin grabbed his hand to comfort him.

**Cris folded up the letter, thinking. If she was honest with herself, she really wanted to see Sirius again. She therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon - double Potions - feeling considerably more cheerful than she usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons.**

"And now something bad is going to happen." Victoire said.

"Of course it does, every time she feels even remotely happy something bad happens." Lily said.

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something Cris couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansy's pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Cris, Ron, and Hermione approached.**

**"****There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. Cris saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands - Witch Weekly. "Witch Weekly, what could be in that?"**

"Something Rita Skeeter wrote obviously." Robin said.

"No kidding." Cris said.

**The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand.**

"At least it isn't Skeeter." Bill said.

"Yep," Hermione said.

**"****You might find something to interest you in there!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside.**

**Hermione, Cris, and Ron headed for a table at the back of the dungeon as usual. Once Snape had turned his back on them to write up the ingredients of today's potion on the blackboard, Hermione hastily rifled through the magazine under the desk. At last, in the center pages, Hermione found what they were looking for.**

**Cris and Ron leaned in closer. A color photograph of Cris headed a short piece entitled:**

**Cristal Potter's Secret Heartache**

"Man, is nothing private?" Prongs asked.

"Nope," Cris said sadly.

"We aren't going to like this are we?" Padfoot asked.

"Nope," the group said.

"Great."

**A girl like no other, perhaps - yet a girl suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of her parents, fourteen-year-old Cristal Potter thought she had found solace in her steady boyfriend at Hogwarts, Ronald Weasley. **

"Man, that's just wrong, I know that the two of you are more like siblings than anything else." Prongs said.

"No kidding, I wanted to throw up after the article." Cris said.

"You did look a little green." Draco said.

"Thanks Draco, thank you so much." Cris said.

**Little did she know that she would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss.**

**Mr. Weasley, an ordinary boy, **

"Well he is more than just ordinary." Hermione said.

"Thanks Mia," Ron said blushing.

**seems to have taken with their other friend, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. However Miss Granger seems to have taken with Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with all three of their emotions. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."**

"Until I met you." Viktor whispered to Gwen who blushed very brightly. Cris smiled at them, it seems her sons plan has worked after all.

**However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest.**

**"****She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, **

"Pansy pretty? Yeah right." Draco said.

"No kidding." Ginny said.

**"****but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."**

"I have never nor will I ever brew a Love Potion." Hermione said.

"You don't need one anyway, you can get a guy by just being yourself." Cris said.

"That's how it should be done." Lily said smiling at James then to Cris, her family.

**Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Cristal Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, she bestows her heart to someone who isn't easily swayed. **

"You've got to be kidding." Lily said.

"I know, it was pretty much full of BS." Cris said.

**"****I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of- of scarlet woman!"**

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

**Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter. "Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron.**

**"****It's what my mum calls them," Ron muttered, his ears going red.**

"I didn't know you were paying attention." Mrs. Weasley said from the kitchen as she stirring something on the stove.

**"****If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish."**

"You said it." The group said.

**She looked over at the Slytherins, who were all watching her, Ron, and Cris closely across the room to see if they had been upset by the article. Hermione gave them a sarcastic smile and a wave, and she, Cris, and Ron started unpacking the ingredients they would need for their Wit-Sharpening Potion.**

"Crabbe and Goyle could use a dose of that." Tonks said.

**"****There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known…?"**

**"****Known what?" said Ron quickly. "You haven't been mixing up Love Potions, have you?"**

**"****Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just… how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?"**

"That is the thousand galleon question." Sirius said.

"We all will like to know how she's doing it." Remus said.

**Hermione blushed scarlet as she said this and determinedly avoided Ron's eyes.**

**"****What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk.**

**"****He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake," Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to -"**

**"****And what did you say?" said Ron, who had picked up his pestle and was grinding it on the desk, a good six inches from his bowl, because he was looking at Hermione.**

"Oh Ron, not the best thing to do." Charlie said.

"I know," Ron said.

**"****And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that Cris could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there… or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task…"**

**"****And what did you say?" Ron repeated, pounding his pestle down so hard that it dented the desk.**

**"****Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Cris were okay to-"**

**"****Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all three of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."**

"Good grief, they were doing their work." McGonagall said.

**Snape had glided over to their desk while they were talking. The whole class was now looking around at them; Malfoy took the opportunity to flash POTTER STINKS across the dungeon at Cris. **

"Cool it already." Bill said.

"I know." Draco said.

**"****Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of Witch Weekly. "A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course…" Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with her press cuttings…"**

"Oh shut up already Sev, it wasn't hers to begin with." Lily said glaring at Snape. Snape looked down into his lap but didn't respond at all.

**The dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth. To Cris fury, he began to read the article aloud.**

"You are asking for it." Prongs snarled at him.

**"Cristal**** Potter's Secret Heartache… dear, dear. Potter, what's ailing you now? 'A girl like no other, perhaps…'"**

**Cris could feel her face burning. Snape was pausing at the end of every sentence to allow the Slytherins a hearty laugh. The article sounded ten times worse when read by Snape. Even Hermione was blushing scarlet now.**

**"'… ****Cristal Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, she bestows her heart to someone who isn't easily swayed.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."**

"They weren't bothering anyone!" Moony shouted.

**Furious, Cris threw her ingredients and her bag into her cauldron and dragged it up to the front of the dungeon to the empty table. Snape followed, sat down at his desk and watched Cris unload her cauldron. Determined not to look at Snape, Cris resumed the mashing of her scarab beetles, imagining each one to have Snape's face.**

"I had a great time with that." Cris said.

"That's my girl." Prongs said. The twins kissed her cheeks at the same time.

**"All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over-large head Potter," said Snape quietly, once the rest of the class had settled down again. **

"Now that has gone too far, she isn't her father. She is her own damn person. Sure there are things she does where it reminds us of either James or Lily but she is her own damn person, get that through your thick skull!" Remus shouted.

"Well said Remus." Dumbledore said.

**Cris didn't answer. She knew Snape was trying to provoke her; he had done this before. No doubt he was hoping for an excuse to take a round fifty points from Gryffindor before the end of the class.**

"He can try." Bill said.

**"You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you," Snape went on, so quietly that no one else could hear him (Cris continued to pound her scarab beetles, even though she had already reduced them to a very fine powder), "but I don't care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little girl who considers rules to be beneath her."**

"Are you trying to get her to explode?" Bill asked.

"You know he was Bill, that's just what he strides for, although, I never want to see Cris yell or get really pissed at someone, and that is what Snape is going for." Tonks said.

**Cris tipped the powdered beetles into her cauldron and started cutting up her ginger roots. Her hands were shaking slightly out of anger, but she kept her eyes down, as though she couldn't hear what Snape was saying to her.**

**"So I give you fair warning, Potter," Snape continued in a sorter and more dangerous voice, "pint-sized celebrity or not - if I catch you breaking into my office one more time -"**

"You think it was her?" Lily snapped.

"It was Crouch and Dobby and Hermione did it their second year." Robin said.

**"I haven't been anywhere near your office!" said Cris angrily, forgetting her feigned deafness.**

**"Don't lie to me," Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Cris'. "Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them."**

"No you don't, these books tell the truth." Lily J said.

**Cris stared back at Snape, determined not to blink or to look guilty. In truth, she hadn't stolen either of these things from Snape. Hermione had taken the boomslang skin back in their second year - they had needed it for the Polyjuice Potion - and while Snape had suspected Cris at the time, he had never been able to prove it. Dobby, of course, had stolen the gillyweed.**

"So Cris can't get into trouble for those things." Fred said.

**"I don't know what you're talking about," Cris lied coldly.**

**"You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed. "I know it Potter! Now, Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your behavior! One more nighttime stroll into my office, Potter, and you will pay!"**

**"Right," said Cris coolly, turning back to her ginger roots. "I'll bear that in mind if I ever get the urge to go in there."**

"Not the smartest thing to do." Remus said.

"I was mad, almost past my boiling point at this time." Cris said.

**Snape's eyes flashed. He plunged a hand into the inside of his black robes. For one wild moment. Cris thought Snape was about to pull out his wand and curse her - then she saw that Snape had drawn out a small crystal bottle of a completely clear potion. Cris stared at it. 'It couldn't be, not Veritaserum.' Cris thought wide eyed as she stared at it. **

"That's illegal to use on a child without parent's or guardian's consent." Dumbledore said flashing a glare at him. "We will be talking about this."

**"Do you know what this is Potter?" Snape said, his eyes glittering dangerously again.**

**"No," said Cris, faking it like she usually did. **

**"It is Veritaserum - **

"I can't believe you would be doing that." Lily snarled.

**a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets for this entire class to hear," said Snape viciously. "Now, the use of this potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips" - he shook the crystal bottle slightly - "right over your evening pumpkin juice. And then Potter… then we'll find out whether you've been in my office or not." **

"And you will be very sorry if you did that." McGonagall said glaring at him.

**Cris said nothing. She turned back to her ginger roots once more, picked up her knife, and started slicing them again. She knew for a fact that it was illegal to use on a student but she didn't say anything. She repressed a shudder at the thought of what might come spilling out of her mouth if Snape did it… quite apart from landing a whole lot of people in trouble - Hermione and Dobby for a start - there were all the other things she was concealing… like the fact that she was in contact with Sirius… and - her insides squirmed at the thought - how she felt about the Weasley twins… She tipped her ginger roots into the cauldron too, and wondered whether she ought to take a leaf out of Moody's book and start drinking only from a private hip flask.**

"I think you're a little young to be that paranoid." Sirius said with a laugh.

"Mum doesn't do that in the future, though I have no idea if she does at work or not." Al said.

**There was a knock on the dungeon door.**

**"Enter," said Snape in his usual voice.**

**The class looked around as the door opened. Professor Karkaroff came in. Everyone watched him as he walked up toward Snape's desk. He was twisting his finger around his goatee and looking agitated.**

"I wonder what's got him worried." Tonks said.

"Moody?" Charlie suggested.

**"We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist. Cris kept her eyes on her ginger roots, listening hard.**

"Just don't make it obvious." Padfoot said. Cris just smiled at that but didn't say anything else.

**"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.**

**"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."**

**"After the lesson," Snape snapped.**

**Under the pretext of holding up a measuring cup to see if she'd poured out enough armadillo bile, Cris sneaked a sidelong glance at the pair of them. Karkaroff looked extremely worried, and Snape looked angry.**

**Karkaroff hovered behind Snape's desk for the rest of the double period. He seemed intent on preventing Snape from slipping away at the end of class. Keen to hear what Karkaroff wanted to say, Cris deliberately knocked over her bottle of armadillo bile with two minutes to go to the bell, which gave her an excuse to duck down behind her cauldron and mop up while the rest of the class moved noisily toward the door.**

"Cris, you are determined to get into trouble aren't you?" Lily asked.

"I'm already on his bad side." Cris said with shrug.

**"What's so urgent?" he heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff.**

**"This," said Karkaroff, and Cris, peering around the edge of his cauldron, saw Karkaroff pull up the left-hand sleeve of his robe and show Snape something on his inner forearm.**

"The Mark," Padfoot said.

**"Well?" said Karkaroff, still making every effort not to move his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since -"**

"He's gaining power." Prongs said. Fudge's eyes went wide, he couldn't quite believe it.

**"Put it away!" snarled Snape, his black eyes sweeping the classroom.**

**"But you must have noticed -" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice.**

**"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Potter! What are you doing?"**

**"Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor," said Cris innocently, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag she was holding.**

"Very clever." Sirius said.

**Karkaroff turned on his heel and strode out of the dungeon. He looked both worried and angry. Not wanting to remain alone with an exceptionally angry Snape, **

"That's something to always to avoid." Remus said.

**Cris threw her books and ingredients back into her bag and left at top speed to tell Ron and Hermione what she had just witnessed.**

**They left the castle at noon the next day to find a weak silver sun shining down upon the grounds. The weather was milder than it had been all year, and by the time they arrived in Hogsmeade, all three of them had taken off their cloaks and thrown them over their shoulders. The food Sirius had told them to bring was in Cris' bag; they had sneaked a dozen chicken legs, a loaf of bread, and a flask of pumpkin juice from the lunch table.**

"I was very appreciative of that." Sirius said.

"I bet you were." Robin said kissing his cheek.

**They went into Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby, where they had fun selecting the most lurid socks they could find, including a pair patterned with flashing gold and silver stars, and another that screamed loudly when they became too smelly.**

"Ron needs those." Cris and Neville said.

"I'm not surprised." Hermione and Ginny said.

**Then, at half past one, they made their way up the High Street, past Dervish and Banges, and out toward the edge of the village.**

**Cris had never been in this direction before. The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar…**

"Really Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Hey, it was a good idea at the time." Sirius said with a shrug.

**"Hello, Sirius," said Cris when they had reached him.**

**The black dog sniffed Cris' bag eagerly, wagged its tail once, then turned and began to trot away from them across the scrubby patch of ground that rose to meet the rocky foot of the mountain. Cris, Ron, and Hermione climbed over the stile and followed.**

**Sirius led them to the very foot of the mountain, where the ground was covered with boulders and rocks. It was easy for him, with his four paws, but Cris, Ron, and Hermione were soon out of breath. They followed Sirius higher, up onto the mountain itself. For nearly half an hour they climbed a steep, winding, and stony path, following Sirius's wagging tail, sweating in the sun, the shoulder straps of Cris' bag cutting into her shoulders.**

"That's not fun at all." Ginny said.

**Then, at last, Sirius slipped out of sight, and when they reached the place where he had vanished, they saw a narrow fissure in the rock. They squeezed into it and found themselves in a cool, dimly lit cave. Tethered at the end of it, one end of his rope around a large rock, was Buckbeak the hippogriff. **

"At least he's still around." Charlie said.

"I can't get rid of him, he's a good hippogriff." Sirius said.

**Half gray horse, half giant eagle, Buckbeak's fierce orange eye flashed at the sight of them. All three of them bowed low to him, and after regarding them imperiously for a moment, Buckbeak bent his scaly front knees and allowed Hermione to rush forward and stroke his feathery neck. Cris, however, was looking at the black dog, which had just turned into her godfather.**

**Sirius was wearing ragged gray robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. **

"Man, you should have stolen some semi-new ones." Prongs said.

"I thought about it." Sirius said.

**His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.**

**"Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor.**

**Cris pulled open her bag and handed over the bundle of chicken legs and bread.**

**"Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. **

"I thought that one of them was Peter." Sirius said with a wide grin.

"That's something you would do." Robin said.

"I couldn't do it." Moony said.

"You do what you have to do with what you have." Sirius said.

**Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself."**

"Now you grow common sense." Remus said with a laugh.

"Hey!"

**He grinned up at Cris, but Cris returned the grin only reluctantly.**

**"What're you doing here, Sirius?" she said.**

"What else would he be there for?" Bill asked.

"I was worried about him." Cris said.

"You don't have to be worried pup." Sirius said.

**"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way.**

"I am a dog." Sirius said with a cheeky smile.

**"Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray." He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Cris' face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter… well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried."**

"Of course he's not the only one worried." McGonagall said.

**He nodded at the yellowing Daily Prophets on the cave floor, and Ron picked them up and unfolded them. Cris, however, continued to stare at Sirius.**

"You need to stop worrying about him Prongslet, he can take care of himself." Prongs said.

"I couldn't help it." Cris said.

"I know." Robin said.

**"What if they catch you? What if you're seen?"**

**"You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg.**

**Ron nudged Cris and passed her the Daily Prophets. There were two: The first bore the headline Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch, the second, Ministry Witch Still Missing-Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved. **

"It's about time." Tonks said.

**Cris scanned the story about Crouch. Phrases jumped out at her: hasn't been seen in public since November… house appears deserted… St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment… Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of critical illness…**

"It's not an illness then." Charlie said.

**"They're making it sound like he's dying," said Cris slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here…"**

**"My brothers Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork."**

"With Crouch it's possible but that doesn't explain why he was in Snape's office if he was ill." Keiran said.

"True," Cris said.

**"Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Cris slowly, still reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet…"**

"But that could have been shock." Gwen said.

"Maybe," Lily said.

**"Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius' chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now - bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him."**

**"Hermione's obsessed with house-elves," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested.**

"Of course I did." Sirius said.

**"Crouch sacked his house-elf?"**

**"Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Cris, and she launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Cris' wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Cris had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave.**

"Uh-oh, Padfoot is in deep thought." Prongs said.

"That can't be good." Moony said.

**"Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elf in the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?"**

**"Right," said Cris, Ron, and Hermione together.**

**"But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?"**

"Well not Crouch senior." Cris muttered under her breath.

**"No," said Cris. "I think he said he'd been too busy."**

**Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Cris, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?"**

"Wait, was your wand stolen from the top box?" Lily asked. Cris nodded and but didn't say anything else.

**"Erm…" Cris thought hard. "No," she said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars."**

**She stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?"**

**"It's possible," said Sirius.**

**"Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted.**

**"The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace.**

**"Who else was sitting behind you?"**

**"Loads of people," said Cris. "Some Bulgarian ministers… Cornelius Fudge… the Malfoy's…"**

**"The Malfoy's!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!"**

"No, it couldn't be." Draco said.

"I know that now." Ron said going red.

**"Anyone else?" said Sirius.**

**"No one," said Cris.**

**"Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded her.**

"He wouldn't do something like that." Tonks said.

**"Oh yeah…"**

**"I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?"**

**"He's okay," said Cris. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament."**

**"Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?"**

**"Says he's taken a liking to me," said Cris.**

"It could be because of your age." Lily suggested.

"Maybe," Cris said with a shrug.

**"Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful.**

**"We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius. **

"He couldn't do that." Prongs said shaking his head.

**"Remember?" she said to Cris and Ron.**

**"Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite."**

**"How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?"**

**"Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?"**

**"It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly.**

"He couldn't do that." Padfoot said stubbornly.

"**Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house -"**

**But Sirius held up a hand to silence Ron.**

"**When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Cris' wand, what did Crouch do?"**

"**Went to look in the bushes," said Cris, "but there wasn't anyone else there."**

"**Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf… and then he sacked her?"**

"Yep," Hermione said angrily.

**"Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled -"**

**"Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron.**

**Sirius shook his head and said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a mans like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals." **

"Then what about you and Kreacher?" Hermione asked.

"He's hated me ever since I took a different view then my mother." Sirius said.

"Dad, I'd try and be nice to him, you'd be surprised how much he has changed in the future." Scarlett said.

"Really?" Sirius asked. The future kids nodded and Neville continued reading.

**He ran a hand over his unshaven face, evidently thinking hard.**

"**All these absences of Barty Crouch's… he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too… It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak."**

"Don't eat him!" Charlie cried.

"I didn't." Sirius said.

"**D'you know Crouch, then?" said Cris.**

**Sirius's face darkened. He suddenly looked as menacing as he had the night when Cris first met him, the night when Cris still believed Sirius to be a murderer.**

"**Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial."**

Everyone growled at that thinking that Sirius should have gotten the trial.

**"What?" said Ron and Hermione together.**

**"You're kidding!" said Cris.**

"I wish I was." Sirius said.

**"No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?"**

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione shook their heads.**

**"He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic,"**

"What made him not become minister then?" Lily asked.

"You'll see." Remus said.

**said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical - and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on Cris' face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side… well, you wouldn't understand… you're too young…" **

"I don't think Cris would be considered as a child." Tonks said.

"I agree, she's seen way too much for someone so young." Kingsley said sadly.

**"That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?"**

**A grin flashed across Sirius's thin face.**

**"All right, I'll try you…" He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing… the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere… panic… confusion… that's how it used to be.**

"That's awful." Gwen said.

"It did get really bad." Remus said sadly.

"**Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects.**

"But, wouldn't that make them just as bad as the Death Eaters?" Gwen asked.

"You would think that, but in order to fight something you sometimes have to use something you never thought you would have to use." Robin said.

"That makes sense." Gwen said.

**I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. **

**He had his supporters, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened…" Sirius smiled grimly. "Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power."**

"That's horrible." Gwen said.

"It happens." Tonks said.

**"Yep," said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread, and tearing it in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while… gotten to know his own son."**

**He began to wolf down large pieces of bread.**

**"Was his son a Death Eater?" said Cris.**

"Yes," Cris muttered under breath for no one else to hear.

**"No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters – but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf."**

"Nope," Sirius muttered as well.

**"Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered.**

"I doubt it." Padfoot said.

**Sirius let out a laugh that was much more like a bark.**

**"Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again - doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy… then he sent him straight to Azkaban."**

"How sad," Gwen said.

"That's just as he was though." Robin said.

**"He gave his own son to the dementors?" asked Cris quietly.**

"That's just wrong, what if he wasn't one though." Gwen said.

"You'll see soon enough Gwen." Cris said.

**"That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though… they all went quiet in the end… except when they shrieked in their sleep…"**

Sirius closed his eyes and shuddered at the memory. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder and Padfoot was wide eyed.

"Don't worry mate, we'll make sure this doesn't happen to you." Prongs whispered to his friend. Padfoot nodded really hoping that this doesn't happen.

**For a moment, the deadened look in Sirius's eyes became more pronounced than ever, as though shutters had closed behind them.**

**"So he's still in Azkaban?" Cris said.**

**"No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in."**

**"He died?"**

"Most do in that hell hole." Sirius said.

"That's terrible." Gwen said.

**"He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it."**

"He should have buried him with his wife." Gwen said.

"That's not how he thinks though." Remus said.

**Sirius threw aside the bread he had just lifted to his mouth and instead picked up the flask of pumpkin juice and drained it.**

**"So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic… next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonored, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray.**

**The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation."**

"At least he still had a job." Gwen said.

**There was a long silence. Cris was thinking of the way Crouch's eyes had bulged as he'd looked down at his disobedient house-elf back in the wood at the Quidditch World Cup. This, then, must have been why Crouch had overreacted to Winky being found beneath the Dark Mark. It had brought back memories of his son, and the old scandal, and his fall from grace at the Ministry.**

**"Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Cris told Sirius.**

**"Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius, nodding. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater."**

"That is if there are any." Lily said.

"There are out there, they just bought their way out of Azkaban." Robin said.

**"And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione.**

**"Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius.**

"So why did he do it then?" Prongs asked.

"Unless it wasn't him." Gwen suggested.

"No, they map can't be fooled even by Polyjuice potion." Moony said.

**"Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head.**

**"Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him."**

**"So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Cris, but Hermione broke in.**

**"Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape -"**

**"Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledore's brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him -" **

"Very true, but Severus is on our side." Dumbledore said.

**"Why did Snape save Cris' life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let her die?"**

"It's because of me," Lily said simply.

**"I dunno - maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out-"**

**"What d'you think, Sirius?" Cris said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen.**

**"I think they've both got a point," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," **

"Hey, the insults are in the book." Neville said with a grin.

**Sirius added, and Cris and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters."**

**Sirius held up his fingers and began ticking off names.**

**"Rosier and Wilkes - they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestrange's **

Neville stopped and glared at the book before continuing again a little harshly.

**- they're a married couple - they're in Azkaban. Avery – from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse - he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater - not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble." **

"Are you feeling alright Padfoot? That's the first time I ever heard you say anything even remotely positive about Snape." Moony said.

**"Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron.**

**"Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Cris quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was."**

**"He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged again. **

**"Well, I've no idea what that's about… but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers…"**

**Sirius stared at the cave wall, then made a grimace of frustration.**

**"There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort."**

**"Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" said Ron stubbornly.**

"There are reasons that I won't go into about Moody but I have no idea about Crouch." Remus said.

**"Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. **

**Crouch, though… he's a different matter… is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not… what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?"**

"Both really good questions, I hope they get answered." Moony said.

"They are answered just not until later." Cris said.

**Sirius lapsed into silence, still staring at the cave wall. Buckbeak was ferreting around on the rocky floor, looking for bones he might have overlooked. Finally, Sirius looked up at Ron.**

**"You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?"**

**"I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch."**

"Not like that though." Percy mumbled under his breath.

**"And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet.**

**"Bagman told me they hadn't," said Cris.**

**"Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. **

"So why did she change?" Charlie asked. Cris looked down, the truth will horrific for them to find out.

**I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic… maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long…"**

**Sirius heaved an enormous sigh and rubbed his shadowed eyes.**

**"What's the time?"**

**Cris checked her watch, then remembered it hadn't been working since it had spent over an hour in the lake.**

"You should have taken it off." Lily said.

"I was in a hurry." Cris said sheepishly.

**"It's half past three," said Hermione.**

**"You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Now listen…" He looked particularly hard at Cris. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you."**

"You advice someone not to sneak out, now I've seen it all." Prongs said.

"I know right, but I didn't want her to be attacked." Sirius said.

"You're a good godfather." Lily said with a smile.

**"No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Cris said, but Sirius scowled at Cris.**

**"I don't care… I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, **

"Really? Snuffles? Well at least it isn't Spot." Prongs said.

"Well some people know my Padfoot nickname like McGonagall and Snape so I chose something different." Sirius said.

"Who knew you were so smart." Moony teased.

"Hey!"

**okay?"**

**He handed Cris the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye.**

**"I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper."**

"Just try not to get caught." Robin said.

"I wasn't," Sirius said.

**He transformed into the great black dog before they left the cave, and they walked back down the mountainside with him, across the boulder-strewn ground, and back to the stile. Here he allowed each of them to pat him on the head, before turning and setting off at a run around the outskirts of the village. Cris, Ron, and Hermione made their way back into Hogsmeade and up toward Hogwarts.**

**"Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care… It'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son."**

"Still doesn't mean you should abandon him." Gwen said.

**"Percy would never throw any of his family to the Dementors," said Hermione severely.**

**"I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career… Percy's really ambitious, you know…"**

Percy blushed brightly but his siblings didn't say anything, he had taken the ministries word over Dumbledore's word and that had set them apart.

**They walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall, where the delicious smells of dinner wafted toward them from the Great Hall.**

**"Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "He must really like you. Cris… Imagine having to live off rats."**

"You are my goddaughter; I would do anything for you." Sirius said.

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I won't stop worrying about you." Cris said.

Mrs. Weasley now had dinner ready and served it up.


	33. Chapter 28: The Madness of Mr Crouch

After dinner was done they gathered back around to read.

"**Chapter 28: The Madness of Mr. Crouch," **Charlie read.

"You mean he wasn't mad already?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

"That's beside the point." Cris said.

**Cris, Ron, and Hermione went up to the Owlery after breakfast on Sunday to send a letter to Percy, asking, as Sirius had suggested, whether he had seen Mr. Crouch lately. They used Hedwig, because it had been so long since she'd had a job. When they had watched her fly out of sight through the Owlery window, they proceeded down to the kitchen to give Dobby his new socks.**

"How many did you get him?" Gwen asked.

"A few," Cris said.

"That's sweet of you." Lily said.

**The house-elves gave them a very cheery welcome, bowing and curtsying and bustling around making tea again. Dobby was ecstatic about his present.**

**"****Cristal Potter is too good to Dobby!" he squeaked, wiping large tears out of his enormous eyes.**

**"****You saved my life with that gillyweed, Dobby, you really did," said Cris.**

"No kidding, I don't know what you would have done." Prongs said.

"I would have figured out something, maybe." Cris said.

"I have no doubt that you would have." Lily said with a smile.

**"****No chance of more of those éclairs, is there?" said Ron, who was looking around at the beaming and bowing house-elves. **

"Didn't you already eat?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, so?" Ron asked.

"You're impossible." Ginny said.

"Don't you know that by now?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, but still, it's crazy." Ginny said.

"True," the girls said.

**"****You've just had breakfast!" said Hermione irritably, but a great silver platter of éclairs was already zooming toward them, supported by four elves.**

**"****We should get some stuff to send up to Snuffles," Cris muttered.**

"That's sweet of you." Lily said.

"I couldn't let him starve." Cris said.

**"****Good idea," said Ron. "Give Pig something to do. **

"Is he big enough to do that?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"He could do it." Hermione said.

**You couldn't give us a bit of extra food, could you?" he said to the surrounding elves, and they bowed delightedly and hurried off to get some more.**

**"****Dobby, where's Winky?" said Hermione, who was looking around.**

**"****Winky is over there by the fire, miss," said Dobby quietly, his ears drooping slightly.**

"Oh-uh, what's wrong with her now?" Luna asked.

"You'll figure it out." Cris said.

**"****Oh dear," said Hermione as she spotted Winky.**

**Cris looked over at the fireplace too. Winky was sitting on the same stool as last time, but she had allowed herself to become so filthy that she was not immediately distinguishable from the smoke-blackened brick behind her. Her clothes were ragged and unwashed. She was clutching a bottle of butterbeer and swaying slightly on her stool, staring into the fire. As they watched her, she gave an enormous hiccup.**

**"****Winky is getting through six bottles a day now," Dobby whispered to Cris.**

"How strong is Butterbeer?" Gwen asked.

"Not that strong, but House-elves are very susceptible to it." Sirius said.

"**Well, it's not strong, that stuff," Cris said.**

**But Dobby shook his head. "'Tis strong for a house-elf, sir," he said.**

**Winky hiccupped again. The elves who had brought the éclairs gave her disapproving looks as they returned to work.**

"**Winky is pining, Cristal Potter," Dobby whispered sadly. "Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks Mr. Crouch is her master, miss, and nothing Dobby says will persuade her that Professor Dumbledore is her master now."**

"It is hard for them to change masters." Robin said.

"That's sad." Gwen said.

**"****Hey, Winky," said Cris, struck by a sudden inspiration, walking over to her, and bending down, "you don't know what Mr. Crouch might be up to, do you? Because he's stopped turning up to judge the Triwizard Tournament."**

"Oh Cris, that'll just worry her even more." Bill said.

"It was worth a shot." Cris said with a shrug.

**Winky's eyes flickered. Her enormous pupils focused on Cris. She swayed slightly again and then said, "M - Master is stopped - hic - coming?"**

**"****Yeah," said Cris, "we haven't seen him since the first task. The Daily Prophet's saying he's ill."**

**Winky swayed some more, staring blurrily at Cris.**

**"****Master- hic- ill?"**

**Her bottom lip began to tremble.**

**"****But we're not sure if that's true," said Hermione quickly.**

"That won't help either." Charlie said. Hermione shrugged and Charlie continued reading.

**"****Master is needing his - his - Winky!" whimpered the elf. "Master cannot - hic - manage - hic - all by himself…"**

**"****Other people manage to do their own housework, you know, Winky," Hermione said severely.**

**"****Winky - hic - is not only - hic - doing housework for Mr. Crouch!" Winky squeaked indignantly, swaying worse than ever and slopping butterbeer down her already heavily stained blouse. "Master is - hic - trusting Winky with - hic – the most important - hic - the most secret…"**

"I wonder what the secret is." Fred asked.

"Whatever it is, I don't think we want to know." Padfoot said. Cris shivered and leaned into Fred and George's touch. They noticed and held on to her kissing her forehead.

**"****What?" said Cris.**

**But Winky shook her head very hard, spilling more butterbeer down herself.**

**"****Winky keeps - hic - her master's secrets," she said mutinously, swaying very heavily now, frowning up at Cris with her eyes crossed. "You is - hic - nosing, you is."**

**"****Winky must not talk like that to Cristal Potter!" said Dobby angrily. "Cristal Potter is brave and noble and Cristal Potter is not nosy!"**

"Actually she is, but we love her anyway." Ginny said.

"Hey!"

"You know it's true Bolt." Hermione said. Cris crossed her arms and pouted while the group laughed.

**"****She is nosing - hic - into my master's - hic - private and secret - hic - Winky is a good house-elf- hic - Winky keeps her silence - hic - people trying to - hic – pry and poke - hic -"**

**Winky's eyelids drooped and suddenly, without warning, she slid off her stool into the hearth, snoring loudly. The empty bottle of butterbeer rolled away across the stone-flagged floor. Half a dozen house-elves came hurrying forward, looking disgusted. One of them picked up the bottle; the others covered Winky with a large checked tablecloth and tucked the ends in neatly, hiding her from view.**

"That's not nice." Gwen said.

"They thought that she was the one being unreasonable, they were thinking that she was being ungrateful." Cris said.

"Oh,"

**"****We is sorry you had to see that, sir and misses!" squeaked a nearby elf, shaking his head and looking very ashamed. "We is hoping you will not judge us all by Winky, sir and misses!"**

**"****She's unhappy!" said Hermione, exasperated. "Why don't you try and cheer her up instead of covering her up?"**

**"****Begging your pardon, miss," said the house-elf, bowing deeply again, "but house-elves has no right to be unhappy when there is work to be done and masters to be served."**

**"****Oh for heaven's sake!" Hermione cried. "Listen to me, all of you! You've got just as much right as wizards to be unhappy! You've got the right to wages and holidays and proper clothes, you don't have to do everything you're told - look at Dobby!"**

"That's because Dobby isn't a normal house-elf, most house-elves are like Winky after they are freed but other than that they love their work." Remus said. Hermione turned a red that any Weasley would be proud of.

**"****Miss will please keep Dobby out of this," Dobby mumbled, looking scared. The cheery smiles had vanished from the faces of the house-elves around the kitchen. They were suddenly looking at Hermione as though she were mad and dangerous.**

"That's because the house-elves at Hogwarts are the best treated and I offered to pay them but they refuse." Dumbledore said. Hermione blushed even more and hid her face in Ron's shoulder.

**"****We has your extra food!" squeaked an elf at Cris' elbow, and he shoved a large ham, a dozen cakes, and some fruit into Cris' arms. "Good-bye!"**

**The house-elves crowded around Cris, Ron, and Hermione and began shunting them out of the kitchen, many little hands pushing in the smalls of their backs.**

**"****Thank you for the socks, Cristal Potter!" Dobby called miserably from the hearth, where he was standing next to the lumpy tablecloth that was Winky.**

**"****You couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, Hermione?" said Ron angrily as the kitchen door slammed shut behind them. "They won't want us visiting them now! We could've tried to get more stuff out of Winky about Crouch!"**

**"And they won't want us coming down for food anymore!"**

"Do you always think with your stomach?" Ginny asked.

"I was actually thinking about Sirius." Ron mumbled.

"That's sweet of you." Robin said with a smile.

**"****Oh as if you care about that!" scoffed Hermione. "You only like coming down here for the food!"**

**It was an irritable sort of day after that. Cris got so tired of Ron and Hermione sniping at each other over their homework in the common room that she took Sirius's food up to the Owlery that evening on her own.**

**Pigwidgeon was much too small to carry an entire ham up to the mountain by himself, so Cris enlisted the help of two school screech owls as well. When they had set off into the dusk, looking extremely odd carrying the large package between them Cris leaned on the windowsill, looking out at the grounds, at the dark, rustling treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and the rippling sails of the Durmstrang ship. An eagle owl flew through the coil of smoke rising from Hagrid's chimney; it soared toward the castle, around the Owlery, and out of sight. **

**Looking down, Cris saw Hagrid digging energetically in front of his cabin. Cris wondered what he was doing; it looked as though he were making a new vegetable patch.**

"Let's just hope that it is a new vegetable patch and not something else." Lily said.

"Knowing Hagrid it could be anything." Moony said.

**As she watched, Madame Maxime emerged from the Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to Hagrid. She appeared to be trying to engage him in conversation. Hagrid leaned upon his spade, but did not seem keen to prolong their talk, because Madame Maxime returned to the carriage shortly afterward.**

**Unwilling to go back to Gryffindor Tower and listen to Ron and Hermione snarling at each other, Cris watched Hagrid digging until the darkness swallowed him and the owls around Cris began to awake, swooshing past her into the night. By breakfast the next day Ron's and Hermione's bad moods had burnt out, and to Cris' relief, Ron's dark predictions that the house-elves would send substandard food up to the Gryffindor table because Hermione had insulted them proved false; the bacon, eggs, and kippers were quite as good as usual.**

"That's a good thing at least." Mr. Weasley said.

**When the post owls arrived, Hermione looked up eagerly; she seemed to be expecting something.**

**"****Percy won't've had time to answer yet," said Ron. "We only sent Hedwig yesterday."**

**"****No, it's not that," said Hermione. "I've taken out a subscription to the Daily Prophet. I'm getting sick of finding everything out from the Slytherins."**

"That a smart thing to do." Prongs said nodding his head in agreement.

**"****Good thinking!" said Cris, also looking up at the owls. "Hey, Hermione, I think you're in luck -"**

**A gray owl was soaring down toward Hermione.**

**"****It hasn't got a newspaper, though," she said, looking disappointed. "It's -"**

**But to her bewilderment, the gray owl landed in front of her plate, closely followed by four barn owls, a brown owl, and a tawny.**

**"****How many subscriptions did you take out?" said Cris, seizing Hermione's goblet before it was knocked over by the cluster of owls, all of whom were jostling close to her, trying to deliver their own letter first.**

"Why do I have the feeling that those letters should be tossed in the fire place?" Tonks asked.

"Because they probably should be." Remus said.

**"****What on earth -?" Hermione said, taking the letter from the gray owl, opening it, and starting to read. "Oh really!" she sputtered, going rather red.**

**"****What's up?" said Ron.**

**"****It's - oh how ridiculous -"**

**She thrust the letter at Cris, who saw that it was not handwritten, but composed from pasted letters that seemed to have been cut out of the Daily Prophet.**

**YOU ARE A WICKED GIRL. CRISTAL POTTER DESERVES A BETTER FRIEND. GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM MUGGLE.**

"Hermione isn't a Muggle!" cried most of the room.

**"****They're all like it!" said Hermione desperately, opening one letter after another. "Cristal Potter can do much better than the likes of you… ' 'You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn… ' Ouch!" **

"What happened?" Lily asked.

**She had opened the last envelope, and yellowish-green liquid smelling strongly of petrol gushed over her hands, which began to erupt in large yellow boils.**

"Undiluted bubotuber pus!" Neville exclaimed.

"You need to get to the Hospital Wing." Kingsley said.

"I did." Hermione said.

**"****Undiluted bubotuber pus!" said Ron, picking up the envelope gingerly and sniffing it.**

**"****Ow!" said Hermione, tears starting in her eyes as she tried to rub the pus off her hands with a napkin, but her fingers were now so thickly covered in painful sores that it looked as though she were wearing a pair of thick, knobbly gloves.**

**"****You'd better get up to the hospital wing," said Cris as the owls around Hermione took flight. "We'll tell Professor Sprout where you've gone…"**

**"****I warned her!" said Ron as Hermione hurried out of the Great Hall, cradling her hands. "I warned her not to annoy Rita Skeeter! Look at this one…" He read out one of the letters Hermione had left behind: "'I read In Witch Weekly about how you are stealing Cristal Potter's boyfriend and that girl has had enough hardship and I will be sending you a curse by next post as soon as I can find a big enough envelope.' Blimey, she'd better watch out for herself. I mean, who is telling people that we're together? You don't like me that way do you?"**

"It's Hermione, after this she will be." Robin said. Hermione blushed but was still hiding in Ron's shoulder.

"**No, you've become like a brother to me." Cris said. Ron nodded in agreement. **

**Hermione didn't turn up for Herbology. As Cris and Ron left the greenhouse for their Care of Magical Creatures class, they saw Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle descending the stone steps of the castle. Pansy Parkinson was whispering and giggling behind them with her gang of Slytherin girls. Catching sight of Ron, Pansy called, "Weasley, have you split up with your girlfriend? Why was she so upset at breakfast?"**

"What a cow," Ginny said.

"No kidding," the group said.

**Ron ignored her; he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing how much trouble the Witch Weekly article had caused.**

**Hagrid, who had told them last lesson that they had finished with unicorns, was waiting for them outside his cabin with a fresh supply of open crates at his feet. Cris' heart sank at the sight of the crates - surely not another skrewt hatching? - but when she got near enough to see inside, she found herself looking at a number of flurry black creatures with long snouts. Their front paws were curiously flat, like spades, and they were blinking up at the class, looking politely puzzled at all the attention.**

"Sweet, an actual non dangerous Care of Magical Creatures class." Bill said.

"What are they?" Gwen asked.

"A really cool creature." James said. Gwen nodded and Charlie continued reading.

**"****These're nifflers," said Hagrid, when the class had gathered around. "Yeh find 'em down mines mostly. They like sparkly stuff… There yeh go, look."**

**One of the nifflers had suddenly leapt up and attempted to bite Pansy Parkinson's watch off her wrist. She shrieked and jumped backward.**

"Yep, they like shiny stuff." Tonks said.

"So don't wear jewelry around them?" Gwen asked.

"Exactly," Sirius said.

**"****Useful little treasure detectors," said Hagrid happily. "Thought we'd have some fun with 'em today. See over there?" He pointed at the large patch of freshly turned earth Cris had watched him digging from the Owlery window. "I've buried some gold coins. I've got a prize fer whoever picks the niffler that digs up most. Jus' take off all yer valuables, an' choose a niffler, an get ready ter set 'em loose."**

"Cool, a little treasure hunt." Padfoot said.

"I wish we had a class like that." Prongs said.

**Cris took off her watch, which she was only wearing out of habit, as it didn't work anymore, and stuffed it into her pocket; she did the same with her earrings. Then she picked up a niffler. It put its long snout in Cris' ear and sniffed enthusiastically. It was really quite cuddly.**

"It tickled too." Cris said with a smile.

"So that's why I heard you laugh." Neville said.

"Well yeah, have you ever had something sniff your ear that it tickled?" Cris asked.

"Many times, my dog does that to you every time you see him." Gwen said.

"That's because Axel is a cool and loves me." Cris said.

**"****Hang on," said Hagrid, looking down into the crate, "there's a spare niffler here… who's missin? Where's Hermione?"**

**"****She had to go to the hospital wing," said Ron.**

**"****We'll explain later," Cris muttered; Pansy Parkinson was listening.**

**It was easily the most fun they had ever had in Care of Magical Creatures. The nifflers dived in and out of the patch of earth as though it were water, each scurrying back to the student who had released it and spitting gold into their hands. Ron's was particularly efficient; it had soon filled his lap with coins.**

"Sounds like Ron's the winner." Remus said.

**"****Can you buy these as pets, Hagrid?" he asked excitedly as his niffler dived back into the soil, splattering his robes.**

"I would never let you get one." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"****Yer mum wouldn' be happy, Ron," said Hagrid, grinning. "They wreck houses, nifflers. I reckon they've nearly got the lot, now," he added, pacing around the patch of earth while the nifflers continued to dive. "I on'y buried a hundred coins. Oh there y'are, Hermione!"**

"Ah, you missed all the fun." Al said.

"I know, but I managed." Hermione said smiling at her nephew.

**Hermione was walking toward them across the lawn. Her hands were very heavily bandaged and she looked miserable. Pansy Parkinson was watching her beadily.**

**"****Well, let's check how yeh've done!" said Hagrid. "Count yer coins! An' there's no point tryin' ter steal any, Goyle," he added, his beetle-black eyes narrowed. "It's leprechaun gold. Vanishes after a few hours."**

"And now Ron feels really bad." Robin said.

"Well yeah, I thought I had paid Cris back only to learn that it vanishes." Ron said.

"Well now you know." Remus said with a smile.

**Goyle emptied his pockets, looking extremely sulky. It turned out that Ron's niffler had been most successful, so Hagrid gave him an enormous slab of Honeydukes chocolate for a prize. The bell rang across the grounds for lunch; the rest of the class set off back to the castle, but Cris, Ron, and Hermione stayed behind to help Hagrid put the nifflers back in their boxes. Cris noticed Madame Maxime watching them out other carriage window.**

"Ah, now she has a crush." Sirius said with a smile.

**"****What yeh done ter your hands, Hermione?" said Hagrid, looking concerned.**

**Hermione told him about the hate mail she had received that morning, and the envelope full of bubotuber pus.**

**"****Aaah, don worry," said Hagrid gently, looking down at her. "I got some o' those letters an all, after Rita Skeeter wrote abou me mum. 'Yeh're a monster an yeh should be put down.' 'Yer mother killed innocent people an if you had any decency you'd jump in a lake.'"**

**"****No!" said Hermione, looking shocked.**

**"****Yeah," said Hagrid, heaving the niffler crates over by his cabin wall. "They're jus' nutters, Hermione. Don' open 'em if yeh get any more. Chuck 'em straigh' in the fire."**

"Listen to him." Bill said.

**"****You missed a really good lesson," Cris told Hermione as they headed back toward the castle. "They're good, nifflers, aren't they, Ron?"**

**Ron, however, was frowning at the chocolate Hagrid had given him. He looked thoroughly put out about something.**

**"****What's the matter?" said Cris. "Wrong flavor?"**

**"****No," said Ron shortly. "Why didn't you tell me about the gold?"**

**"What gold?" said Cris.**

"You didn't notice that it vanished?" Gwen asked.

"Not really, I had a lot on my mind that it didn't really phase me that it was gone." Cris said with a shrug.

"Oh," Ron said blushing slightly.

**"****The gold I gave you at the Quidditch World Cup," said Ron. "The leprechaun gold I gave you for my Omnioculars. In the Top Box. Why didn't you tell me it disappeared?"**

**Cris had to think for a moment before she realized what Ron was talking about.**

**"****Oh…" she said, the memory coming back to her at last. "I dunno… I never noticed it had gone. I was more worried about my wand, wasn't I?"**

"Yeah, I'd say that's more important." Lily said.

**They climbed the steps into the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall for lunch.**

**"****Must be nice," Ron said abruptly, when they had sat down and started serving themselves roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. "To have so much money you don't notice if a pocketful of Galleons goes missing."**

**"****Listen, I had other stuff on my mind that night!" said Cris impatiently. "We all did, remember?"**

**"****I didn't know leprechaun gold vanishes," Ron muttered. "I thought I was paying you back. You shouldn't've given me that Chudley Cannon hat for Christmas."**

"I would have gotten you it anyway." Cris said.

"I know," Ron said quietly.

**"****Forget it, all right?" said Cris.**

**Ron speared a roast potato on the end of his fork, glaring at it. Then he said, "I hate being poor."**

The Weasley's looked down embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter; you have something much more great than that, a loving family." Cris said.

"Yeah, and that is what truly matters." Lily J said.

**Cris and Hermione looked at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say.**

**"****It's rubbish," said Ron, still glaring down at his potato. "I don't blame Fred and George for trying to make some extra money. Wish I could. Wish I had a niffler."**

"Did I ever get one?" Ron asked the future kids.

"No, but Aunt Hermione got you a stuffed one as a joke." Victoire said. Ron chuckled and the others laughed.

**"****Well, we know what to get you next Christmas," said Hermione brightly. Then, when Ron continued to look gloomy, she said, "Come on, Ron, it could be worse. At least your fingers aren't full of pus." Hermione was having a lot of difficulty managing her knife and fork, her fingers were so stiff and swollen. "I hate that Skeeter woman!" she burst out savagely. "I'll get her back for this if it's the last thing I do!"**

"I hope you do too." Sirius said. Hermione smiled, she did that alright.

**Hate mail continued to arrive for Hermione over the following week, and although she followed Hagrid's advice and stopped opening it, several of her ill-wishers sent Howlers, which exploded at the Gryffindor table and shrieked insults at her for the whole Hall to hear. Even those people who didn't read Witch Weekly knew all about the supposed Cris-Ron-Hermione-Krum circle now. Cris was getting sick of telling people that Ron wasn't her boyfriend.**

**"****It'll die down, though," she told Hermione, "if we just ignore it… People got bored with that stuff she wrote about me last time."**

**"****I want to know how she's listening into private conversations when she's supposed to be banned from the grounds!" said Hermione angrily.**

"That's a very good question." Tonks said.

"Can electronics work at Hogwarts?" Gwen asked.

"No," the group said.

"Well there goes that idea." She said.

"Though it is very close to what you were thinking." Cris said. The group looked at her but she shrugged it off saying 'later,'

**Hermione hung back in their next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson to ask Professor Moody something. The rest of the class was very eager to leave; Moody had given them such a rigorous test of hex-deflection that many of them were nursing small injuries. Cris had such a bad case of Twitchy Ears, she had to hold her hands clamped over them as she walked away from the class.**

**"****Well, Rita's definitely not using an Invisibility Cloak!" Hermione panted five minutes later, catching up with Cris and Ron in the entrance hall and pulling Cris' hand away from one of her wiggling ears so that she could hear her. "Moody says he didn't see her anywhere near the judges' table at the second task, or anywhere near the lake!"**

"But Moody can see through disillusionment charms and invisibility cloaks." Tonks said.

"So she must be hiding herself some other way." Sirius said.

**"Hermione, is there any point in telling you to drop this?" said Ron.**

**"No!" said Hermione stubbornly. "I want to know how she heard me talking to Viktor! And how she found out about Hagrid's mum!"**

**"Maybe she had you bugged," said Cris.**

**"Bugged?" said Ron blankly. "What… put fleas on her or something?"**

"You know, she didn't mean literally." Sirius said. Remus' eyes went wide.

"Or did she, Skeeter might also be an unregistered animagus, wasn't there a beetle nearby on each time they are talking about something important?" Remus asked.

"Could be." Robin said knowing where her brother was going.

**Cris started explaining about hidden microphones and recording equipment. Ron was fascinated, but Hermione interrupted them.**

**"****Aren't you two ever going to read Hogwarts, A History?"**

**"****What's the point?" said Ron. "You know it by heart, we can just ask you."**

"**I've read it, and I know they don't work, but then how is she doing it?" Cris asked.**

"I'm guessing Ron still wasn't convinced." Gwen said.

"Not really," Cris said.

**"****All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. No, Rita's using magic to eavesdrop, she must be… If I could just find out what it is… ooh, if it's illegal, I'll have her…"**

**"****Haven't we got enough to worry about?" Ron asked her. "Do we have to start a vendetta against Rita Skeeter as well?"**

**"****I'm not asking you to help!" Hermione snapped. "I'll do it on my own!"**

**She marched back up the marble staircase without a backward glance. Cris was quite sure she was going to the library.**

**"****What's the betting she comes back with a box of I Hate Rita Skeeter badges?" said Ron.**

"I'm not going to do that even though we do hate her." Hermione said.

**Hermione, however, did not ask Cris and Ron to help her pursue vengeance against Rita Skeeter, for which they were both grateful, because their workload was mounting ever higher in the days before the Easter holidays. Cris frankly marveled at the fact that Hermione could research magical methods of eavesdropping as well as everything else they had to do. **

"Are you sure she doesn't have a time-turner again?" Bill asked with a smile.

"Yes," Cris said with a smile, "she wasn't exhausted to the point where I noticed."

"So she just managed her time well then." Charlie said.

"Yep," Ron said.

**She was working flat-out just to get through all their homework, though she made a point of sending regular food packages up to the cave in the mountain for Sirius; after last summer, Cris had not forgotten what it felt like to be continually hungry. She enclosed notes to Sirius, telling him that nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and that they were still waiting for an answer from Percy.**

"What is taking you so long?" Bill asked.

"I had a lot of work to do." Percy said looking down into his lap.

**Hedwig didn't return until the end of the Easter holidays. Percy's letter was enclosed in a package of Easter eggs that Mrs. Weasley had sent. Both Cris' and Ron's were the size of dragon eggs and full of homemade toffee. Hermione's, however, was smaller than a chicken egg. Her face fell when she saw it.**

"I'm sorry, I just thought that those articles were true." Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's alright, I understand." Hermione said going over to hug her. Mrs. Weasley hugged back and Charlie continued reading.

**"****Your mum doesn't read Witch Weekly, by any chance, does she, Ron?" she asked quietly.**

**"****Yeah," said Ron, whose mouth was full of toffee. "Gets it for the recipes."**

**Hermione looked sadly at her tiny egg.**

**"****Don't you want to see what Percy's written?" Cris asked her hastily.**

"Did you at least share?" Lily asked.

"Of course I did." Cris said.

"I told her she didn't have to but she did anyway." Hermione said shaking her head.

**Percy's letter was short and irritated.**

"Good grief, they were just wondering what was going on, you didn't need to get all snappy with them." George said.

"George, it's Percy of course he's going to get all snappy with them." Fred said.

"True," George said.

_**As I am constantly telling the Daily Prophet, Mr. Crouch is taking a well-deserved break. He is sending in regular owls with instructions. No, I haven't actually seen him, but I think I can be trusted to know my own superior's handwriting. I have quite enough to do at the moment without trying to quash these ridiculous rumors.**_

_**Please don't bother me again unless it's something important. Happy Easter.**_

"But how do you know that someone doesn't have Crouch under their control and making him send in those letters? Did someone actually go to his house to check up on him?" Moody asked.

"No, but someone should have." Cris said under her breath.

**The start of the summer term would normally have meant that Cris was training hard for the last Quidditch match of the season.**

"I miss reading about the Quidditch games." Padfoot said.

"I'm sure there will be more in the next book." Lily said.

**This year, however, it was the third and final task in the Triwizard Tournament for which she needed to prepare, but she still didn't know what she would have to do. Finally, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held her back in Transfiguration.**

"I hope it's nothing bad." Prongs said.

"I'm sure it's something about the next task." Lily said.

**"****You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o'clock. Potter," she told her. "Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task."**

"Finally!" Bill said.

"I wonder what it is." Moony said.

**So at half past eight that night. Cris left Ron and Hermione in Gryffindor Tower and went downstairs. As she crossed the entrance hall, Cedric came up from the Hufflepuff common room.**

**"****What d'you reckon it's going to be?" he asked Cris as they went together down the stone steps, out into the cloudy night. "Fleur keeps going on about underground tunnels; she reckons we've got to find treasure."**

"If it's that then you should burrow a niffler from Hagrid." Prongs said.

"That would be a good idea, but I don't think it's that." Robin said.

**"****That wouldn't be too bad," said Cris, thinking that she would simply ask Hagrid for a niffler to do the job for her.**

"We think alike!" Prongs said.

"She is your daughter." Moony said.

"True," Prongs said.

**They walked down the dark lawn to the Quidditch stadium, turned through a gap in the stands, and walked out onto the field.**

**"****What've they done to it?" Cedric said indignantly, stopping dead.**

"What did they do?" Padfoot and Prongs asked.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**The Quidditch field was no longer smooth and flat. It looked as though somebody had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every direction.**

"No!" shouted Padfoot and Prongs.

"They better fix it." Prongs said.

"But what is it?" Gwen asked.

**"****They're hedges!" said Cris, bending to examine the nearest one.**

**"****Hello there!" called a cheery voice.**

**Ludo Bagman was standing in the middle of the field with Krum and Fleur. Cris and Cedric made their way toward them, climbing over the hedges. Fleur beamed at Cris as she came nearer. Her attitude toward her had changed completely since she had saved her sister from the lake.**

**"****Well, what d'you think?" said Bagman happily as Cris and Cedric climbed over the last hedge. "Growing nicely, aren't they? Give them a month and Hagrid'll have them twenty feet high. Don't worry," he added, grinning, spotting the less than- happy expressions on Cris' and Cedric's faces, "you'll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we're making here?"**

"It's a maze." Lily said.

"It's what is inside the maze that worries me." Moony said.

**No one spoke for a moment. Then -**

**"****Maze," grunted Krum.**

**"****That's right!" said Bagman. "A maze. The third task's really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks."**

"That seems easy enough." Gwen said.

**"****We simply 'ave to get through the maze?" said Fleur.**

**"****There will be obstacles," said Bagman happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Hagrid is providing a number of creatures… then there will be spells that must be broken… all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading on points will get a head start into the maze." Bagman grinned at Cris and Cedric. "Then Mr. Krum will enter… then Miss Delacour. But you'll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?"**

"It wasn't," Cris said under her breath. She began to tremble slightly and buried herself into Fred's chest.

**Cris, who knew only too well the kind of creatures that Hagrid was likely to provide for an event like this, thought it was unlikely to be any fun at all. However, she nodded politely like the other champions.**

**"****Very well… if you haven't got any questions, we'll go back up to the castle, shall we, it's a bit chilly…"**

**Bagman hurried alongside Cris as they began to wend their way out of the growing maze. Cris had the feeling that Bagman was going to start offering to help her again, but just then, Krum tapped Cris on the shoulder.**

**"****Could I haff a vord?"**

"What did you want to talk about?" Gwen asked.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**"****Yeah, all right," said Cris, slightly surprised.**

**"****Vill you valk vith me?"**

"I wouldn't go alone." Remus muttered.

"No kidding," Viktor said.

**"****Okay," said Cris curiously.**

**Bagman looked slightly perturbed.**

**"****I'll wait for you. Cris, shall I?"**

**"****No, it's okay, Mr. Bagman," said Cris, suppressing a smile, "I think I can find the castle on my own, thanks."**

**Cris and Krum left the stadium together, but Krum did not set a course for the Durmstrang ship. Instead, he walked toward the forest.**

"You're not going to try something are you?" Robin asked.

"Never, I just vanted to talk." Viktor said.

**"****What're we going this way for?" said Cris as they passed Hagrid s cabin and the illuminated Beauxbatons carriage.**

**"****Don't vant to be overheard," said Krum shortly.**

**When at last they had reached a quiet stretch of ground a short way from the Beauxbatons horses' paddock, Krum stopped in the shade of the trees and turned to face Cris.**

**"****I vant to know," he said, glowering, "vot there is between Ron and Hermy-own-ninny." **

"Wow, so that's what the two of you talked about." Sirius said.

"Yeah," Cris said.

**Cris, who from Krum's secretive manner had expected something much more serious than this, stared up at Krum in amazement.**

**"****Nothing that I know of anyway." she said. But Krum glowered at her, and Cris, somehow struck anew by how tall Krum was, elaborated. "They're friends. Ron and I don't have anything. That Skeeter woman was just making things up."**

**"****Hermy-own-ninny talks about you very often," said Krum, looking suspiciously at Cris.**

**"****Yeah," said Cris, "because were friends."**

"People do talk about their friends with someone they are with." Gwen said.

"Very true," Tonks said.

**She couldn't quite believe she was having this conversation with Viktor Krum, the famous International Quidditch player. **

**"****They haff never… they haff not…"**

**"****No," said Cris very firmly.**

**Krum looked slightly happier. He stared at Cris for a few seconds, then said, "You fly very veil. I vos votching at the first task."**

"Wow, that is a big praise." Charlie said.

**"****Thanks," said Cris, grinning broadly and suddenly feeling much taller herself. "I saw you at the Quidditch World Cup. The Wronski Feint, you really -"**

**But something moved behind Krum in the trees, and Cris, who had some experience of the sort of thing that lurked in the forest, instinctively grabbed Krum's arm and pulled him around.**

"And of course placing yourself in the line of danger." Lily said shaking her head.

"What can I say; it's kind of ingrained into me." Cris said.

**"****Vot is it?"**

**Cris shook her head, staring at the place where she'd seen movement. She slipped her hand inside her robes, reaching for her wand.**

**Suddenly a man staggered out from behind a tall oak. For a moment, Cris didn't recognize him… then she realized it was Mr. Crouch.**

"What is he doing there?" Bill asked.

"You'll see." Hermione said.

**He looked as though he had been traveling for days. The knees of his robes were ripped and bloody, his face scratched; he was unshaven and gray with exhaustion. His neat hair and mustache were both in need of a wash and a trim. His strange appearance, however, was nothing to the way he was behaving. Muttering and gesticulating, Mr. Crouch appeared to be talking to someone that he alone could see. He reminded Cris vividly of an old tramp she had seen once when out shopping with the Dursley's. That man too had been conversing wildly with thin air; Aunt Petunia had seized Dudley's hand and pulled him across the road to avoid him; Uncle Vernon had then treated the family to a long rant about what he would like to do with beggars and vagrants.**

**"****Vosn't he a judge?" said Krum, staring at Mr. Crouch. "Isn't he vith your Ministry?"**

**Cris nodded, hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly toward Mr. Crouch, who did not look at her, but continued to talk to a nearby tree.**

**"… ****and when you've done that, Weatherby, send an owl to Dumbledore confirming the number of Durmstrang students who will be attending the tournament, Karkaroff has just sent word there will be twelve…"**

"Sounds like a very strong memory charm." Sirius said.

"But who casted it?" Prongs asked. Cris was shaking a little more at the answer to her father's question, the answer that would have them all terrified.

**"****Mr. Crouch?" said Cris cautiously.**

**"… ****and then send another owl to Madame Maxime, because she might want to up the number of students she's bringing, now Karkaroff's made it a round dozen… do that, Weatherby, will you? Will you? Will…"**

"He's gone insane," Bill said.

"No kidding," Ron said.

**Mr. Crouch's eyes were bulging. He stood staring at the tree, muttering soundlessly at it. Then he staggered sideways and fell to his knees.**

**"****Mr. Crouch?" Cris said loudly. "Are you all right?"**

**Crouch's eyes were rolling in his head. Cris looked around at Krum, who had followed her into the trees, and was looking down at Crouch in alarm.**

**"****Vot is wrong with him?"**

**"****No idea," Cris muttered. "Listen, you'd better go and get someone -"**

**"****Dumbledore!" gasped Mr. Crouch. He reached out and seized a handful of Cris' robes, dragging her closer, though his eyes were staring over Cris' head. "I need… see… Dumbledore…"**

"Okay, this is creepy." Lily said.

"It vas at the time." Viktor said.

**"****Okay," said Cris, "if you get up, Mr. Crouch, we can go up to the-"**

**"****I've done… stupid… thing…" Mr. Crouch breathed. He looked utterly mad. His eyes were rolling and bulging, and a trickle of spittle was sliding down his chin. Every word he spoke seemed to cost him a terrible effort. "Must… tell… Dumbledore…"**

**"****Get up, Mr. Crouch," said Cris loudly and clearly. "Get up, I'll take you to Dumbledore!"**

**Mr. Crouch's eyes rolled forward onto Cris.**

**"****Who… you?" he whispered.**

"I think that was the first time nobody knew who I was." Cris said with a laugh.

"That's a first." Sirius said.

**"****I'm a student at the school," said Cris, looking around at Krum for some help, but Krum was hanging back, looking extremely nervous.**

**"****You're not… his?" whispered Crouch, his mouth sagging.**

**"****No," said Cris, without the faintest idea what Crouch was talking about.**

"Maybe he meant Karkaroff." Tonks said with a shrug. Cris shook her head, he meant Voldemort.

**"****Dumbledore's?"**

**"****That's right," said Cris.**

**Crouch was pulling her closer; Cris tried to loosen Crouch's grip on her robes, but it was too powerful.**

**"****Warn… Dumbledore…"**

**"****I'll get Dumbledore if you let go of me," said Cris. "Just let go, Mr. Crouch, and I'll get him…"**

**"****Thank you, Weatherby, and when you have done that, I would like a cup of tea. My wife and son will be arriving shortly; we are attending a concert tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Fudge."**

"It really does sound like the Imperious gone wrong." Padfoot said.

**Crouch was now talking fluently to a tree again, and seemed completely unaware that Cris was there, which surprised Cris so much she didn't notice that Crouch had released her.**

**"****Yes, my son has recently gained twelve O.W.L.S, most satisfactory, yes, thank you, yes, very proud indeed. Now, if you could bring me that memo from the Andorran Minister of Magic, I think I will have time to draft a response…"**

"He rambling." Hermione said.

**"****You stay here with him!" Cris said to Krum. "I'll get Dumbledore, I'll be quicker, I know where his office is -"**

**"****He is mad," said Krum doubtfully, staring down at Crouch, who was still gabbling to the tree, apparently convinced it was Percy.**

"Now you're a tree!" Charlie said with a smile towards his brother. Percy turned bright red as the others laughed.

**"****Just stay with him," said Cris, starting to get up, but her movement seemed to trigger another abrupt change in Mr. Crouch, who seized her hard around the knees and pulled Cris back to the ground.**

**"****Don't… leave… me!" he whispered, his eyes bulging again. "I… escaped… must warn… must tell… see Dumbledore… my fault… all my fault… Bertha… dead… all my fault… my son… my fault… tell Dumbledore… Cristal Potter… the Dark Lord… stronger… Cristal Potter…"**

"Wait, can you repeat that?" Lily asked. Charlie did and the people from the past and the ministry officials blanched at that.

"What does that mean?" Percy asked.

"You'll see." Ron said.

**"****I'll get Dumbledore if you let me go, Mr. Crouch!" said Cris. She looked furiously around at Krum. "Help me, will you?"**

**Looking extremely apprehensive, Krum moved forward and squatted down next to Mr. Crouch.**

**"****Just keep him here," said Cris, pulling herself free of Mr. Crouch. "I'll be back with Dumbledore."**

"I shouldn't have left you there, I'm sorry." Cris said.

"It's fine," Viktor said.

**"****Hurry, von't you?" Krum called after her as Cris sprinted away from the forest and up through the dark grounds. They were deserted; Bagman, Cedric, and Fleur had disappeared. Cris tore up the stone steps, through the oak front doors, and off up the marble staircase, toward the second floor.**

**Five minutes later she was hurtling toward a stone gargoyle standing halfway along an empty corridor.**

**"****Sher - sherbet lemon!" she panted at it.**

"It would've changed by now." Padfoot said.

"I didn't think of that." Cris said.

**This was the password to the hidden staircase to Dumbledore's office - or at least, it had been two years ago. The password had evidently changed, however, for the stone gargoyle did not spring to life and jump aside, but stood frozen, glaring at Cris malevolently.**

"Creepy," Gwen said.

**"****Move!" Cris shouted at it. "C'mon!"**

**But nothing at Hogwarts had ever moved just because she shouted at it; she knew it was no good. She looked up and down the dark corridor. Perhaps Dumbledore was in the staff room? She started running as fast as she could toward the staircase –**

**"****POTTER!"**

"Great, let me guess, Snape." Padfoot said.

"The one and only." Cris said with a slight smile.

**Cris skidded to a halt and looked around. Snape had just emerged from the hidden staircase behind the stone gargoyle. The wall was sliding shut behind him even as he beckoned Cris back toward him.**

**"****What are you doing here, Potter?"**

**"****I need to see Professor Dumbledore!" said Cris, running back up the corridor and skidding to a standstill in front of Snape instead. "It's Mr. Crouch… he's just turned up… he's in the forest… he's asking -"**

**"****What is this rubbish?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering. "What are you talking about?"**

**"****Mr. Crouch!" Cris shouted. "From the Ministry! He's ill or something - he's in the forest, he wants to see Dumbledore! Just give me the password up to -"**

**"****The headmaster is busy. Potter," said Snape, his thin mouth curling into an unpleasant smile.**

"Really, this was a little more important." Tonks said.

**"****I've got to tell Dumbledore!" Cris yelled.**

**"****Didn't you hear me. Potter?"**

**Cris could tell Snape was thoroughly enjoying himself, denying Harry Cris thing she wanted when she was so panicky.**

"Good grief, if it wasn't for him I would have gotten to Dumbledore in time and Viktor wouldn't have been knocked out." Cris said. Snape blanched at that, he never realized what was happening.

**"****Look," said Cris angrily, "Crouch isn't right - he's - he's out of his mind – he says he wants to warn -"**

**The stone wall behind Snape slid open. Dumbledore was standing there, wearing long green robes and a mildly curious expression. "Is there a problem?" he said, looking between Cris and Snape.**

"Dumbledore to the rescue." Prongs said with a sigh of relief.

**"****Professor!" Cris said, sidestepping Snape before Snape could speak, "Mr. Crouch is here - he's down in the forest, he wants to speak to you!"**

**Cris expected Dumbledore to ask questions, but to her relief, Dumbledore did nothing of the sort.**

"I could tell by the look in your eyes that this was urgent." Dumbledore said turning to glare at Snape.

**"****Lead the way," he said promptly, and he swept off along the corridor behind Cris, leaving Snape standing next to the gargoyle and looking twice as ugly.**

**"****What did Mr. Crouch say. Cris?" said Dumbledore as they walked swiftly down the marble staircase.**

**"****Said he wants to warn you… said he's done something terrible… he mentioned his son… and Bertha Jorkins… and - and Voldemort… something about Voldemort getting stronger…"**

"I just hope that he isn't as strong as he is in our time." Lily said.

**"****Indeed," said Dumbledore, and he quickened his pace as they hurried out into the pitch-darkness.**

**"****He's not acting normally," Cris said, hurrying along beside Dumbledore. "He doesn't seem to know where he is. He keeps talking like he thinks Percy Weasley's there, and then he changes, and says he needs to see you… I left him with Viktor Krum."**

**"****You did?" said Dumbledore sharply, and he began to take longer strides still, so that Cris was running to keep up. "Do you know if anybody else saw Mr. Crouch?"**

**"****No," said Cris. "Krum and I were talking, Mr. Bagman had just finished telling us about the third task, we stayed behind, and then we saw Mr. Crouch coming out of the forest -"**

**"****Where are they?" said Dumbledore as the Beauxbatons carriage emerged from the darkness.**

**"****Over here," said Cris, moving in front of Dumbledore, leading the way through the trees. She couldn't hear Crouch's voice anymore, but she knew where she was going; it hadn't been much past the Beauxbatons carriage… somewhere around here…**

"Something happened." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"****Viktor?" Cris shouted.**

**No one answered.**

"**They were here," Cris said to Dumbledore. "They were definitely somewhere around here…"**

"**Lumos," Dumbledore said, lighting his wand and holding it up.**

**Its narrow beam traveled from black trunk to black trunk, illuminating the ground. And then it fell upon a pair of feet. **

"It isn't Krum, is it?" Robin asked. They didn't say anything else but Charlie continued reading.

**Cris and Dumbledore hurried forward. Krum was sprawled on the forest floor. He seemed to be unconscious. There was no sign at all of Mr. Crouch. Dumbledore bent over Krum and gently lifted one of his eyelids.**

**"Stunned," he said softly. His half-moon glasses glittered in the wand light as he peered around at the surrounding trees.**

"Crouch didn't do that, did he?" Gwen asked.

"I don't think he could have the presence of mind to do that." Bill said.

**"Should I go and get someone?" said Cris. "Madam Pomfrey?"**

**"No," said Dumbledore swiftly. "Stay here."**

**He raised his wand into the air and pointed it in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Cris saw something silvery dart out of it and streak away through the trees like a ghostly bird. **

"What was that?" Gwen asked.

"You'll find out Aunt Gwen," Lily J said. Cris looked at her daughter, they were getting closer to the point where they would be reading about the future.

**Then Dumbledore bent over Krum again, pointed his wand at him, and muttered, "Ennervate."**

**Krum opened his eyes. He looked dazed. When he saw Dumbledore, he tried to sit up, but Dumbledore put a hand on his shoulder and made him lie still.**

**"He attacked me!" Krum muttered, putting a hand up to his head. "The old madman attacked me! I vos looking around to see vare Potter had gone and he attacked from behind!"**

**"Lie still for a moment," Dumbledore said.**

**The sound of thunderous footfalls reached them, and Hagrid came panting into sight with Fang at his heels. He was carrying his crossbow.**

**"Professor Dumbledore!" he said, his eyes widening. "Cris - what the -?"**

**"Hagrid, I need you to fetch Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "His student has been attacked. When you've done that, kindly alert Professor Moody -"**

**"No need, Dumbledore," said a wheezy growl. "I'm here."**

**Moody was limping toward them, leaning on his staff, his wand lit.**

"Oh right, he has the map." Padfoot said.

**"Damn leg," he said furiously. "Would've been here quicker… what's happened? Snape said something about Crouch -"**

**"Crouch?" said Hagrid blankly.**

**"Karkaroff, please, Hagrid!" said Dumbledore sharply.**

**"Oh yeah… right y'are, Professor…" said Hagrid, and he turned and disappeared into the dark trees, Fang trotting after him.**

**"I don't know where Barty Crouch is," Dumbledore told Moody, "but it is essential that we find him."**

**"I'm onto it," growled Moody, and he pulled out his wand and limped off into the forest. **

Cris growled, she should have stopped Moody.

**Neither Dumbledore nor Cris spoke again until they heard the unmistakable sounds of Hagrid and Fang returning. Karkaroff was hurrying along behind them. He was wearing his sleek silver furs, and he looked pale and agitated.**

**"What is this?" he cried when he saw Krum on the ground and Dumbledore and Cris beside him. "What's going on?"**

**"I vos attacked!" said Krum, sitting up now and rubbing his head. "Mr. Crouch or votever his name -"**

**"Crouch attacked you? Crouch attacked you? The Triwizard judge?"**

"Good grief he's going mental." Remus said.

**"Igor," Dumbledore began, but Karkaroff had drawn himself up, clutching his furs around him, looking livid.**

**"Treachery!" he bellowed, pointing at Dumbledore. "It is a plot! You and your Ministry of Magic have lured me here under false pretenses, Dumbledore! This is not an equal competition! First you sneak Potter into the tournament, though he is underage! Now one of your Ministry friends attempts to put my champion out of action! I smell double-dealing and corruption in this whole affair, and you, Dumbledore, you, with your talk of closer international wizarding links, of rebuilding old ties, of forgetting old differences - here's what I think of you!"**

**Karkaroff spat onto the ground at Dumbledore's feet. In one swift movement, Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff's furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.**

"Damn, I wouldn't want to be on his bad side." Gwen said.

"No kidding," Sirius said.

**"Apologize!" Hagrid snarled as Karkaroff gasped for breath, Hagrid's massive fist at his throat, his feet dangling in midair.**

**"Hagrid, no!" Dumbledore shouted, his eyes flashing.**

**Hagrid removed the hand pinning Karkaroff to the tree, and Karkaroff slid all the way down the trunk and slumped in a huddle at its roots; a few twigs and leaves showered down upon his head.**

**"Kindly escort Cris back up to the castle, Hagrid," said Dumbledore sharply.**

**Breathing heavily, Hagrid gave Karkaroff a glowering look.**

**"Maybe I'd better stay here. Headmaster…"**

**"You will take Cris back to school, Hagrid," Dumbledore repeated firmly. "Take her right up to Gryffindor Tower. And Cris - I want you to stay there. Anything you might want to do - any owls you might want to send - they can wait until morning, do you understand me?"**

"Ah, so he knows that she has been sending letters to Sirius?" Prongs asked.

"I was sending letters to Dumbledore as well." Sirius said.

**"Er - yes," said Cris, staring at him. How had Dumbledore known that, at that very moment, she had been thinking about sending Pigwidgeon straight to Sirius, to tell him what had happened?**

**"I'll leave Fang with yeh Headmaster," Hagrid said, staring menacingly at Karkaroff, who was still sprawled at the foot of the tree, tangled in furs and tree roots. "Stay, Fang. C'mon, Cris."**

**They marched in silence past the Beauxbatons carriage and up toward the castle.**

**"How dare he," Hagrid growled as they strode past the lake. "How dare he accuse Dumbledore. Like Dumbledore'd do anythin' like that. Like Dumbledore wanted you in the tournament in the firs' place. Worried! I dunno when I seen Dumbledore more worried than he's bin lately. An' you!" Hagrid suddenly said angrily to Cris, who looked up at him, taken aback. "What were yeh doin', wanderin' off with ruddy Krum? He's from Durmstrang, Cris! Coulda jinxed yeh right there, couldn he? Hasn' Moody taught yeh nothin'? 'Magine lettin him lure yeh off on yer own -" **

"I don't want to be on his bad side." Gwen said.

**"Krum's all right!" said Cris as they climbed the steps into the entrance hall. "He wasn't trying to jinx me, he just wanted to talk about Hermione -"**

**"I'll be havin' a few words with her, an' all," said Hagrid grimly, stomping up the stairs. "The less you lot 'ave ter do with these foreigners, the happier yeh'll be. Yeh can't trust any of 'em." **

"Ah, he's upset about Madame Maxine." Bill said.

"Yep," Sirius said.

**"You were getting on all right with Madame Maxime," Cris said, annoyed.**

**"Don' you talk ter me abou' her!" said Hagrid, and he looked quite frightening for a moment. "I've got her number now! Tryin' ter get back in me good books, tryin' ter get me ter tell her what's comin in the third task. Ha! You can' trust any of'em!"**

**Hagrid was in such a bad mood, Cris was quite glad to say good-bye to him in front of the Fat Lady. She clambered through the portrait hole into the common room and hurried straight for the corner where Ron and Hermione were sitting, to tell them what had happened. **

"That's the chapter." Charlie said.

"I think it's time for bed." Mrs. Weasley said seeing the yawns around the room. They split up and went to bed.


	34. Chapter 29: The Dream

The next morning the girls woke up once again to find Cris gone and they figured that she went to sleep with the twins again. But what they didn't suspect was that Sirius and Cris were out in the main room sleeping on the couch. It looked like Cris had been crying and Sirius had calmed her down. Sirius woke up to see the group looking at them.

"Was she crying?" Lily asked.

"She had a nightmare, I heard her come out here and I helped calm her down." Sirius said. Cris was still fast asleep comfortable in her godfather's arms

"What was the nightmare about?" Prongs asked.

"You'll find out in the end of this book." Hermione said. Soon they all had eaten and Cris had woken up. Fleur had picked up the book to read where they had left off. **(I'm not going to change the chapter to match any accents.)**

"**Chapter 29: The Dream," **Fleur read.

"What's so important about a dream?" Padfoot asked.

"You'll see, it actually means something." Cris said.

**"****It comes down to this," said Hermione, rubbing her forehead. "Either Mr. Crouch attacked Viktor, or somebody else attacked both of them when Viktor wasn't looking."**

"The later makes more sense." Mr. Weasley said.

"But who would attack them?" Gwen asked.

"I guess we'll find out." Bill said.

**"****It must've been Crouch," said Ron at once. "That's why he was gone when Cris and Dumbledore got there. He'd done a runner."**

**"****I don't think so," said Cris, shaking her head. "He seemed really weak - I don't reckon he was up to running or anything." **

"**Maybe he Disapparated." Ron suggested.**

"Ron, you really need to pay more attention." Charlie said shaking his head.

**"You can't Disapparate on the Hogwarts grounds, haven't I told you enough times?" said Hermione and Cris.**

"No," Ron said with a cheeky smile. Hermione and Cris shook their heads and Hermione slapped Ron.

**"****Okay… how's this for a theory," said Ron excitedly. "Krum attacked Crouch - no, wait for it - and then Stunned himself!"**

"Really Ron?" Bill asked.

"I said it was a theory." Ron said with a blush.

**"****And Mr. Crouch evaporated, did he?" said Hermione coldly.**

**"****Oh yeah…"**

"You forgot got about that part, didn't you?" Tonks asked with a smirk. Ron nodded his face still red.

**It was daybreak. Cris, Ron, and Hermione had crept out of their dormitories very early and hurried up to the Owlery together to send a note to Sirius. Now they were standing looking out at the misty grounds. All three of them were puffy-eyed and pale because they had been talking late into the night about Mr. Crouch.**

"You should have gotten some sleep." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know but we had a lot of theories." Ron said.

**"****Just go through it again, Cris," said Hermione. "What did Mr. Crouch actually say?"**

**"****I've told you, he wasn't making much sense," said Cris. "He said he wanted to warn Dumbledore about something. He definitely mentioned Bertha Jorkins, and he seemed to think she was dead. He kept saying stuff was his fault… He mentioned his son."**

**"Well, that was his fault," said Hermione testily.**

**"He was out of his mind," said Cris. "Half the time he seemed to think his wife and son were still alive, and he kept talking to Percy about work and giving him instructions."**

"It definitely sounds like he was fighting off the Imperious Curse." Tonks said.

"But who put it on him?" Kingsley asked. Cris started to shake again and went deeper into the embrace the twins had her in.

**"And… remind me what he said about You-Know-Who?" said Ron tentatively.**

**"I've told you," Cris repeated dully. "He said he's getting stronger."**

**There was a pause. Then Ron said in a falsely confident voice, "But he was out of his mind, like you said, so half of it was probably just raving…"**

"Exactly, he was a raving lunatic!" Umbridge snarled.

"You'll see," Cris said glaring at her.

**"He was sanest when he was trying to talk about Voldemort," said Cris, and Ron winced at the sound of the name. "He was having real trouble stringing two words together, but that was when he seemed to know where he was, and know what he wanted to do. He just kept saying he had to see Dumbledore."**

**Cris turned away from the window and stared up into the rafters. The many perches were half-empty; every now and then, another owl would swoop in through one of the windows, returning from its night's hunting with a mouse in its beak.**

**"If Snape hadn't held me up," Cris said bitterly, "we might've got there in time. **

"Actually, I might have died," Cris mumbled. The twins heard and stiffened, they didn't want to think about that.

**'The headmaster is busy. Potter… what's this rubbish, Potter?' Why couldn't he have just got out of the way?"**

"Because he's a git." Prongs said glaring at Snape.

"Very true," Sirius said.

**"Maybe he didn't want you to get there!" said Ron quickly. "Maybe - hang on - how fast d'you reckon he could've gotten down to the forest? D'you reckon he could've beaten you and Dumbledore there?"**

**"Not unless he can turn himself into a bat or something," said Cris.**

**"Wouldn't put it past him," Ron muttered.**

The group besides certain people laughed at the image in their heads.

**"We need to see Professor Moody," said Hermione. "We need to find out whether he found Mr. Crouch."**

**"If he had the Marauder's Map on him, it would've been easy," said Cris.**

**"Unless Crouch was already outside the grounds," said Ron, "because it only shows up to the boundaries, doesn't -"**

"We need to extend it." Prongs whispered.

"We can work on that." Padfoot said.

**"Shh!" said Hermione suddenly.**

**Somebody was climbing the steps up to the Owlery. Cris could hear two voices arguing, coming closer and closer.**

The twins blushed and the trio laughed at them.

"I think this is the first time we ever hear the two of you fight." Ron said.

"Wait, its Fred and George?" Charlie asked.

"Yep," Hermione and Cris said. Cris kissed the two of them after that.

**"- that's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that-"**

"Who are you two planning to blackmail?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"You'll see," Fred said.

"We didn't actually do anything." George said.

"That's good, I think." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"- we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did -"**

"Good grief, so whoever it is works for the Ministry." Charlie said shaking his head.

"So who is it?" Bill asked.

**"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, it's blackmail!"**

"Yeah, George stop Fred from doing something stupid." Ginny said.

"How do you know which was which?" Hermione asked.

"Fred is the more rash one." Ginny said.

"That is very true," Cris said. Fred blushed while George laughed somewhat.

**"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"**

**The Owlery door banged open. Fred and George came over the threshold, then froze at the sight of Cris, Ron, and Hermione.**

**"What're you doing here?" Ron and Fred said at the same time.**

**"Sending a letter," said Cris and George in unison.**

**"What, at this time?" said Hermione and Fred.**

"Now that is just weird." Bill said.

"Yeah, I laughed when we left the Owlery." Cris said.

"I would too." Ginny said.

**Fred grinned.**

**"Fine - we won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us," he said. He was holding a sealed envelope in his hands. Cris glanced at it, but Fred, whether accidentally or on purpose, shifted his hand so that the name on it was covered.**

"It was on purpose." Fred said.

"I knew it." Cris said with a smile kissing his cheek.

**"Well, don't let us hold you up," Fred said, making a mock bow and pointing at the door.**

**Ron didn't move. "Who're you blackmailing?" he said.**

**The grin vanished from Fred's face. Cris saw George half glance at Fred, before smiling at Ron.**

**"Don't be stupid, I was only joking," he said easily.**

**"Didn't sound like that," said Ron.**

"No it sure didn't." Mr. Weasley said.

**Fred and George looked at each other. Then Fred said abruptly, "I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but -"**

"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley snapped glaring at the twins.

"I've already apologized for that." Fred said quietly blushing somewhat.

**"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone," said Ron. "George's right, you could end up in serious trouble for that."**

**"Told you, I was joking," said George. He walked over to Fred, pulled the letter out of his hands, and began attaching it to the leg of the nearest barn owl. "You're starting to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."**

"You aren't are you?" Prongs asked.

"You'll have to wait and see." Ron said. The past marauders pouted but didn't say anything more.

**"No, I won't!" said Ron hotly.**

**George carried the barn owl over to the window and it took off. George turned around and grinned at Ron.**

**"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later."**

**He and Fred left the Owlery. Cris, Ron, and Hermione stared at one another.**

**"You don't think they know something about all this, do you?" Hermione whispered. "About Crouch and everything?"**

"No, even they wouldn't keep this a secret." Bill said.

"Very true," the twins said.

**"No," said Cris. "If it was something that serious, they'd tell someone. They'd tell Dumbledore."**

"See, even our girl defends us." George said kissing Cris' head.

**Ron, however, was looking uncomfortable.**

**"What's the matter?" Hermione asked him.**

**"Well…" said Ron slowly, "I dunno if they would. They're… they're obsessed with making money lately, I noticed it when I was hanging around with them - when - you know -"**

**"We weren't talking." Cris finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, but blackmail…"**

**"It's this joke shop idea they've got," said Ron. "I thought they were only saying it to annoy Mum, but they really mean it, they want to start one. They've only got a year left at Hogwarts, they keep going on about how it's time to think about their future, and Dad can't help them, and they need gold to get started."**

"I still don't know how you'll manage it." Mrs. Weasley said.

"You'll find out," Cris said. She was after all the girl who made it possible for them.

**Hermione was looking uncomfortable now.**

"**Yes, but… they wouldn't do anything against the law to get gold."**

"**Wouldn't they?" said Ron, looking skeptical. "I dunno… they don't exactly mind breaking rules, do they?"**

"But we wouldn't do that." Fred said.

"I know that now." Ron said.

**"Yes, but this is the law" said Hermione, looking scared. **

"Says the girl who broke the law in third year." Ron whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Shut it you." Hermione whispered back whacking his shoulder.

**"This isn't some silly school rule… They'll get a lot more than detention for blackmail! Ron… maybe you'd better tell Percy…"**

**"Are you mad?" said Ron. "Tell Percy? He'd probably do a Crouch and turn them in." **

"I probably would have too." Percy muttered to no one in particular.

**He stared at the window through which Fred and George's owl had departed, then said, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."**

**"D'you think it's too early to go and see Professor Moody?" Hermione said as they went down the spiral staircase.**

**"Yes," said Cris. "He'd probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he'll think we're trying to attack him while he's asleep. Let's give it till break."**

"Good thinking, I'd rather not you guys get shot with a really nasty hex." Sirius said.

"And they say Hermione is the smart one." George said scoffing.

"Hey, it was early and we didn't get much sleep." Hermione said crossing her arms.

**History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. Cris kept checking Ron's watch, having finally discarded her own, but Ron's was moving so slowly she could have sworn it had stopped working too. All three of them were so tired they could happily have put their heads down on the desks and slept; even Hermione wasn't taking her usual notes,**

"Wow, you must be tired." Bill said with a smile.

"I blame Cris," Hermione said.

"And I accept the blame, for now anyway." Cris said.

**but was sitting with her head on her hand, gazing at Professor Binns with her eyes out of focus.**

**When the bell finally rang, they hurried out into the corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it. He looked as tired as they felt. The eyelid of his normal eye was drooping, giving his face an even more lopsided appearance than usual.**

"Well yeah, he must have been searching the woods all night." Charlie said.

**"Professor Moody?" Cris called as they made their way toward him through the crowd.**

**"Hello, Potter," growled Moody. His magical eye followed a couple of passing first years, who sped up, looking nervous; it rolled into the back of Moody's head and watched them around the corner before he spoke again.**

"Um Cris, I love you and everything, but promise me that in case you lose an eye that you don't get one like that." Gwen said.

"Deal," Cris said with a small laugh.

**"Come in here."**

**He stood back to let them into his empty classroom, limped in after them, and closed the door.**

**"Did you find him?" Cris asked without preamble. "Mr. Crouch?"**

**"No," said Moody. He moved over to his desk, sat down, stretched out his wooden leg with a slight groan, and pulled out his hip flask.**

**"Did you use the map?" Cris said.**

**"Of course," said Moody, taking a swig from his flask. "Took a leaf out of your book, Potter. Summoned it from my office into the forest. He wasn't anywhere on there."**

"Then someone must have attacked Crouch and Viktor then taken Crouch out of the grounds in the time it took for Cris to get Dumbledore." Bill said.

"Maybe," Remus said.

**"So he did Disapparate?" said Ron.**

"Ron!" the group cried.

"I know, I know." Ron said.

**"You can't Disapparate on the grounds, Ron!" said Hermione. "There are other ways he could have disappeared, aren't there, Professor?"**

**Moody's magical eye quivered as it rested on Hermione. "You're another one who might think about a career as an Auror," he told her. "Mind works the right way Granger."**

**Hermione flushed pink with pleasure.**

"Did I ever think about it?" Hermione asked the future kids.

"For a little while, I barely remember it, but when you got pregnant you decided to go into law instead." Keiran said.

"I bet they were one hell of a team." Prongs said.

"Yeah," Teddy and Keiran said.

**"Well, he wasn't invisible," said Cris. "The map shows invisible people. He must've left the grounds, then."**

**"But under his own steam?" said Hermione eagerly, "or because someone made him?"**

**"Yeah, someone could've - could've pulled him onto a broom and flown off with him, couldn't they?" said Ron quickly, looking hopefully at Moody as if he too wanted to be told he had the makings of an Auror.**

"Don't worry Uncle Ron, you and Uncle Draco make a formidable team." Scarlett said.

"I still can't believe we work together." Draco said.

"I know, but they wouldn't lie so…" Ron said. Draco nodded in agreement looking at Luna who was on his right and she smiled at her and he smiled back. He was really beginning to like her.

**"We can't rule out kidnap," growled Moody.**

"Or murder." Lily said quietly. Cris stiffened once again, if only she could have gotten there faster than they would have figured everything out before the third task not after it.

**"So," said Ron, "d'you reckon he's somewhere in Hogsmeade?"**

**"Could be anywhere," said Moody, shaking his head. "Only thing we know for sure is that he's not here."**

**He yawned widely, so that his scars stretched, and his lopsided mouth revealed a number of missing teeth. Then he said, "Now, Dumbledore's told me you three fancy yourselves as investigators, but there's nothing you can do for Crouch. The Ministry'll be looking for him now, Dumbledore's notified them. Potter, you just keep your mind on the third task."**

**"What?" said Cris. "Oh yeah…"**

**She hadn't given the maze a single thought since she'd left it with Krum the previous night.**

"That's understandable," Remus said with a smile.

**"Should be right up your street, this one," said Moody, looking up at Cris and scratching his scarred and stubbly chin. "From what Dumbledore's said, you've managed to get through stuff like this plenty of times. Broke your way through a series of obstacles guarding the Philosopher's Stone in your first year, didn't you?"**

**"We helped," Ron said quickly. "Me and Hermione helped."**

**Moody grinned.**

**"Well, help her practice for this one, and I'll be very surprised if she doesn't win," said Moody.**

"That's not like Moody at all." Tonks said. She knew it wasn't him but some of the group didn't so they played it like that.

**"In the meantime… constant vigilance, Potter. Constant vigilance."**

**He took another long draw from his hip flask, and his magical eye swiveled onto the window. The topmost sail of the Durmstrang ship was visible through it.**

**"You two," counseled Moody, his normal eye on Ron and Hermione, "you stick close to Potter, all right? I'm keeping an eye on things, but all the same… you can never have too many eyes out."**

**Sirius sent their owl back the very next morning. It fluttered down beside Cris at the same moment that a tawny owl landed in front of Hermione, clutching a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak. She took the newspaper, scanned the first few pages, said, "Ha! She hasn't got wind of Crouch!"**

"Uh-oh, the Ministry is in trouble again." Gwen said.

**then joined Ron and Cris in reading what Sirius had to say on the mysterious events of the night before last.**

_**Cris - what do you think you are playing at, walking off into the forest with Viktor Krum? **_

_**I want you to swear, by return owl, that you are not going to go walking with anyone else at night. There is somebody highly dangerous at Hogwarts. It is clear to me that they wanted to stop Crouch from seeing Dumbledore and you were probably feet away from them in the dark. You could have been killed.**_

_**Your name didn't get into the Goblet of Fire by accident. If someone's trying to attack you, they're on their last chance. Stay close to Ron and Hermione, do not leave Gryffindor Tower after hours, and arm yourself for the third task. Practice Stunning and Disarming. A few hexes wouldn't go amiss either. There's nothing you can do about Crouch. Keep your head down and look after yourself. I'm waiting for your letter giving me your word you won't stray out-of-bounds again.**_

_**Sirius**_

"Bloody hell, Padfoot are you alright?" Moony asked.

"Yeah, I was worried." Sirius said.

"I'd never thought I'd live to see the day that Sirius Black would tell someone to not stray out-of-bounds." McGonagall said with a smile.

**"Who's he, to lecture me about being out-of-bounds?" said Cris in mild indignation as she folded up Sirius's letter and put it inside her robes. "After all the stuff he did at school!"**

**"He's worried about you!" said Hermione sharply. "Just like Moody and Hagrid! So listen to them!"**

**"No one's tried to attack me all year," said Cris. "No one's done anything to me at all-"**

"Expect putting your name in the Goblet." Robin said.

**"Except put your name in the Goblet of Fire," said Hermione. "And they must've done that for a reason Cris. Snuffles is right. Maybe they've been biding their time. Maybe this is the task they're going to get you."**

**"Look," said Cris impatiently, "let's say Sirius**

"I said to use Snuffles," Sirius said with a grin.

"I know," Cris said with a grin.

**is right, and someone Stunned Krum to kidnap Crouch. Well, they would've been in the trees near us, wouldn't they? But they waited till I was out of the way until they acted, didn't they? So it doesn't look like I'm their target, does it?"**

**"They couldn't have made it look like an accident if they'd murdered you in the forest!" said Hermione. "But if you die during a task-"**

**"They didn't care about attacking Krum, did they?" said Cris. "Why didn't they just polish me off at the same time? They could've made it look like Krum and I had a duel or something."**

**"Cris, I don't understand it either," said Hermione desperately. "I just know there are a lot of odd things going on, and I don't like it… Moody's right - Sirius is right - you've got to get in training for the third task, straight away. And you make sure you write back to Sirius and promise him you're not going to go sneaking off alone again."**

**The Hogwarts grounds never looked more inviting than when Cris had to stay indoors. For the next few days she spent all of her free time either in the library with Hermione and Ron, looking up hexes, or else in empty classrooms, which they sneaked into to practice. Cris was concentrating on the Stunning Spell, which she had never used before. The trouble was that practicing it involved certain sacrifices on Ron's and Hermione's part.**

"That was entertaining to say the least." Cris said.

"Hey," Hermione and Ron said.

"What can I say; I am my father's daughter, most of the time." Cris said. The group laughed at that and Fleur continued reading.

**"Can't we kidnap Mrs. Norris?"**

"Or ask Dobby to help, I'm sure he'd love that." Charlie said.

"Hermione wouldn't let me." Cris said.

**Ron suggested on Monday lunchtime as he lay flat on his back in the middle of their Charms classroom, having just been Stunned and reawoken by Cris for the fifth time in a row. "Let's Stun her for a bit. Or you could use Dobby, Cris, I bet he'd do anything to help you. **

"Great, now I think like Ron, I don't know if that's good or not." Charlie said with a smile to his little brother.

**I'm not complaining or anything" - he got gingerly to his feet, rubbing his backside - "but I'm aching all over…"**

**"Well, you keep missing the cushions, don't you!" said Hermione impatiently, rearranging the pile of cushions they had used for the Banishing Spell, which Flitwick had left in a cabinet. "Just try and fall backward!"**

**"Once you're Stunned, you can't aim too well, Hermione!" said Ron angrily. "Why don't you take a turn?"**

**"Well, I think Cris' got it now, anyway," said Hermione hastily. **

"You just didn't want to get stunned." Cris said.

"No, it was fun watching Ron get stunned." Hermione said with a sheepish smile. Ron pouted but Hermione kissed him making him forget about the pout.

**"And we don't have to worry about Disarming, because she's been able to do that for ages… I think we ought to start on some of these hexes this evening."**

**She looked down the list they had made in the library.**

"How big was the list?" Sirius asked.

"Big enough," Cris and Hermione said.

"Good,"

**"I like the look of this one," she said, "this Impediment Curse.**

"That'll be good." Moony said.

**Should slow down anything that's trying to attack you Cris. We'll start with that one."**

**The bell rang. They hastily shoved the cushions back into Flitwick's cupboard and slipped out of the classroom.**

**"See you at dinner!" said Hermione, and she set off for Arithmancy, while Cris and Ron headed toward North Tower, and Divination. Broad strips of dazzling gold sunlight tell across the corridor from the high windows. The sky outside was so brightly blue it looked as though it had been enameled.**

"What a beautiful day." Gwen said.

"It's always calm before the storm." Cris muttered.

**"It's going to be boiling in Trelawney's room, she never puts out that fire," said Ron as they started up the staircase toward the silver ladder and the trapdoor.**

"And that's why you didn't take it." Lily said looking at Moony. Moony nodded and Fleur continued reading.

**He was quite right. The dimly lit room was swelteringly hot. The fumes from the perfumed fire were heavier than ever. Cris' head swam as she made her way over to one of the curtained windows. While Professor Trelawney was looking the other way, disentangling her shawl from a lamp, she opened it an inch or so and settled back in her chintz armchair, so that a soft breeze played across her face. It was extremely comfortable.**

**"My dears," said Professor Trelawney, sitting down in her winged armchair in front of the class and peering around at them all with her strangely enlarged eyes, "we have almost finished our work on planetary divination. Today, however, will be an excellent opportunity to examine the effects of Mars, for he is placed most interestingly at the present time. If you will all look this way, I will dim the lights…"**

**She waved her wand and the lamps went out. The fire was the only source of light now. Professor Trelawney bent down and lifted, from under her chair, a miniature model of the solar system, contained within a glass dome. It was a beautiful thing; each of the moons glimmered in place around the nine planets and the fiery sun, all of them hanging in thin air beneath the glass. Cris watched lazily as Professor Trelawney began to point out the fascinating angle Mars was making to Neptune.**

"Does it really matter?" Gwen asked.

"Not really," said those who took the class.

**The heavily perfumed fumes washed over her, and the breeze from the window played across her face. She could hear an insect humming gently somewhere behind the curtain. Her eyelids began to droop…**

"And here comes the dream." Ginny said.

**She was riding on the back of an eagle owl, soaring through the clear blue sky toward an old, ivy-covered house set high on a hillside. Lower and lower they flew, the wind blowing pleasantly in Cris' face, until they reached a dark and broken window in the upper story of the house and entered. Now they were flying along a gloomy passageway, to a room at the very end… through the door they went, into a dark room whose windows were boarded up…**

"What's going there?" Robin asked. The group shrugged so Fleur could continue to read.

**Cris had left the owl's back… she was watching, now, as it fluttered across the room, into a chair with its back to her… There were two dark shapes on the floor beside the chair… both of them were stirring…**

**One was a huge snake… the other was a man… a short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a pointed nose… he was wheezing and sobbing on the hearth rug…**

**"You are in luck, Wormtail,"**

"So this like the first chapter." Prongs said.

"Looks like." Lily said. She hoped nobody else died.

**said a cold, high-pitched voice from the depths of the chair in which the owl had landed. "You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything. He is dead."**

"Who is dead?" Tonks asked.

"Crouch," Cris said.

"Are you sure?" Padfoot asked. Cris nodded but didn't say anything more.

**"My Lord!" gasped the man on the floor. "My Lord, I am… I am so pleased… and so sorry…"**

**"Nagini," said the cold voice, "you are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you,**

"Pity, he should have," Sirius said with a growl.

**after all… but never mind, never mind… there is still Cristal Potter…"**

**The snake hissed. Cris could see its tongue fluttering.**

**"Now, Wormtail," said the cold voice, "perhaps one more little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you…"**

**"My Lord… no… I beg you…"**

**The tip of a wand emerged from around the back of the chair. It was pointing at Wormtail.**

Fleur's eyes widened but took a deep breath to continue reading.

**"Crucio!" **

Cris flinched and the twins noticed, they wondered if she was put under it at some point, but they didn't want to think about that.

**said the cold voice.**

**Wormtail screamed, screamed as though every nerve in his body were on fire, the screaming filled Cris' ears as the scar on her forehead seared with pain; she was yelling too… Voldemort would hear her, would know she was there…**

"No, it's all in your head." Mr. Weasley said. Cris, however didn't say anything so Fleur continued reading.

**"Cris! Cris!"**

**Cris opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor of Professor Trelawney's room with her hands over her face. Her scar was still burning so badly that her eyes were watering. The pain had been real. The whole class was standing around her, and Ron was kneeling next to her, looking terrified.**

"It was terrifying; it looked like a seizure or something." Ron said. Cris shuddered even more and the twins held onto her tighter, to calm her down.

**"You all right?" he said.**

**"Of course she isn't!" said Professor Trelawney, looking thoroughly excited. Her great eyes loomed over Cris, gazing at her. "What was it Potter? A premonition? An apparition? What did you see?"**

"Oh shut up, she doesn't want to talk to you." Lily snapped.

**"Nothing," Cris lied. She sat up. She could feel herself shaking. She couldn't stop herself from looking around, into the shadows behind her; Voldemort's voice had sounded so close…**

**"You were clutching your scar!" said Professor Trelawney. "You were rolling on the floor, clutching your scar! Come now Potter, I have experience in these matters!"**

"Just leave her be." Robin said.

**Cris looked up at her.**

**"I need to go to the hospital wing, I think," she said. "Bad headache."**

"That's a good excuse." Prongs said.

"And I did have one." Cris said.

"I could tell." Ron said quietly. Cris smiled gratefully at him before Fleur continued.

**"My dear, you were undoubtedly stimulated by the extraordinary clairvoyant vibrations of my room!" said Professor Trelawney. "If you leave now, you may lose the opportunity to see further than you have ever -"**

"I don't think it was that kind of vision." Padfoot said.

**"I don't want to see anything except a headache cure," said Cris.**

**She stood up. The class backed away. They all looked unnerved.**

"Well yeah, there was nothing we could do for you." Neville said.

"Thanks Nev," Cris said.

**"See you later," Cris muttered to Ron, and she picked up her bag and headed for the trapdoor, ignoring Professor Trelawney, who was wearing an expression of great frustration, as though she had just been denied a real treat.**

**When Cris reached the bottom of her stepladder, however, she did not set off for the hospital wing. She had no intention whatsoever of going there. Sirius had told her what to do if her scar hurt her again, and Cris was going to follow his advice: She was going straight to Dumbledore's office.**

"Good," Sirius said.

"At least he will know what to do." Tonks said nodding.

**She marched down the corridors, thinking about what she had seen in the dream… it had been as vivid as the one that had awoken her on Privet Drive… She ran over the details in her mind, trying to make sure she could remember them… She had heard Voldemort accusing Wormtail of making a blunder… but the owl had brought good news, the blunder had been repaired, somebody was dead… so Wormtail was not going to be fed to the snake… she, Cris, was going to be fed to it instead…**

**Cris had walked right past the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office without noticing. She blinked, looked around, realized what she had done, and retraced her steps, stopping in front of it. Then she remembered that she didn't know the password.**

**"Sherbet lemon?" she tried tentatively.**

"You already tried that." Bill said.

"I know," Cris said.

**The gargoyle did not move.**

**"Okay," said Cris, staring at it, "Pear Drop. Er - Licorice Wand. Fizzing Whizbee. Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans… oh no, he doesn't like them, does he?… oh just open, can't you?" she said angrily. "I really need to see him, its urgent!"**

"I don't think that will work." Moony said. Cris just shrugged and Fleur continued reading.

**The gargoyle remained immovable.**

**Cris kicked it, achieving nothing but an excruciating pain in her big toe.**

**"Chocolate Frog!" she yelled angrily, standing on one leg. "Sugar Quill! Cockroach Cluster!"**

**The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. Cris blinked.**

"You guessed the password?" Prongs asked with a smile. Cris nodded but her dad smiled.

"I guess that the passwords are easy enough to guess." Dumbledore said with a chuckle.

**"Cockroach Cluster?" she said, amazed. "I was only joking…"**

"At least it worked." Remus said.

"I know," Cris said.

**She hurried through the gap in the walls and stepped onto the foot of a spiral stone staircase, which moved slowly upward as the doors closed behind her, taking her up to a polished oak door with a brass door knocker.**

**She could hear voices from inside the office. She stepped off the moving staircase and hesitated, listening.**

**"Dumbledore, I'm afraid I don't see the connection, don't see it at all!" It was the voice of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. "Ludo says Bertha's perfectly capable of getting herself lost. I agree we would have expected to have found her by now, but all the same, we've no evidence of foul play, Dumbledore, none at all. As for her disappearance being linked with Barty Crouch's!"**

**"And what do you thinks happened to Barty Crouch, Minister?" said Moody's growling voice. **

"You know," Cris muttered under her breath.

**"I see two possibilities, Alastor," said Fudge. "Either Crouch has finally cracked - more than likely, I'm sure you'll agree, given his personal history - lost his mind, and gone wandering off somewhere -"**

"Or he's dead." Ginny said.

**"He wandered extremely quickly, if that is the case, Cornelius," said Dumbledore calmly.**

**"Or else - well…" Fudge sounded embarrassed. "Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've seen the place where he was found, but you say it was just past the Beauxbatons carriage? Dumbledore, you know what that woman is?"**

**"I consider her to be a very able headmistress - and an excellent dancer," said Dumbledore quietly.**

"Good grief, just because someone isn't all human doesn't mean a damn thing." Gwen said.

**"Dumbledore, come!" said Fudge angrily. "Don't you think you might be prejudiced in her favor because of Hagrid? They don't all turn out harmless - if, indeed, you can call Hagrid harmless, with that monster fixation he's got -"**

"At least no one has gotten killed and the hippogriff Draco was warned." Hermione said.

"I was, I was just doing what my father told me." Draco said. Fudge blinked and Cris smiled, soon the Minister will see that she wasn't lying at all.

**"I no more suspect Madame Maxime than Hagrid," said Dumbledore, just as calmly. "I think it possible that it is you who are prejudiced, Cornelius."**

"Ooohhh, burned." Lily J said with a smile. James high-fived his sister and Fleur continued reading.

**"Can we wrap up this discussion?" growled Moody.**

**"Yes, yes, let's go down to the grounds, then," said Fudge impatiently.**

**"No, it's not that," said Moody, "it's just that Potter wants a word with you, Dumbledore. She's just outside the door."**

"Busted," said the trouble makers. Fleur handed the book to Bill to read the next chapter.


	35. Chapter 30: The Pensieve

"**Chapter 30: The Pensieve," **Bill read.

"So you go into someone's memory?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and Neville I'm sorry for what we are about to read." Cris said.

"It's about my parents, isn't?" he asked. Cris nodded and Neville took a deep breath and Ginny grabbed his hand. Bill looked at them and Neville nodded telling him to go ahead.

"I wonder what happened to Alice and Frank." Lily murmured.

"I hope it isn't anything too bad." Prongs whispered.

**The door of the office opened.**

**"****Hello, Potter," said Moody. "Come in, then."**

**Cris walked inside. She had been inside Dumbledore's office once before; **

"Only once?" Prongs asked.

"Yeah," Cris said.

"Why do I have the feeling that she will be in there more often." Padfoot said.

"Yeah, probably." Cris said with a smile.

"At least there's that." Prongs said.

**it was a very beautiful, circular room, lined with pictures of previous headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts, all of whom were fast asleep, their chests rising and falling gently.**

"They aren't sleeping; they just do that to eavesdrop." Keiran said.

"Of course you would know that." Robin said with a smile.

"How could I not with my dad being who is he." Keiran said with a grin that matched his father's.

"That's my boy." Sirius said with a smile. Victoire smiled at Keiran and kissed his cheek.

**Cornelius Fudge was standing beside Dumbledore's desk, wearing his usual pinstriped cloak and holding his lime-green bowler hat.**

**"****Cris!" said Fudge jovially, moving forward. "How are you?"**

**"****Fine," Cris lied.**

**"****We were just talking about the night when Mr. Crouch turned up on the grounds," said Fudge. "It was you who found him, was it not?"**

**"****Yes," said Cris. Then, feeling it was pointless to pretend that she hadn't overheard what they had been saying, she added, "I didn't see Madame Maxime anywhere, though, and she'd have a job hiding, wouldn't she?"**

"And there is Lily's sarcasm again." Sirius said with a grin.

"That is not always a good thing." Lily said.

"No kidding," Hermione and Ron said. Cris mock glared at them but didn't say anything else.

**Dumbledore smiled at Cris behind Fudge's back, his eyes twinkling.**

**"****Yes, well," said Fudge, looking embarrassed, "we're about to go for a short walk on the grounds, Cris, if you'll excuse us… perhaps if you just go back to your class -"**

**"****I wanted to talk to you, Professor," Cris said quickly, looking at Dumbledore, who gave him a swift, searching look.**

**"****Wait here for me, Cris," he said. "Our examination of the grounds will not take long."**

"But hopefully not too long, knowing Cris she'll end up doing some snooping." George said.

"Of course she will and Dumbledore will be back before she could stop searching." Fred said. Cris blushed brightly, letting them know that what they said was true.

**They trooped out in silence past her and closed the door. After a minute or so, Cris heard the clunks of Moody's wooden leg growing fainter in the corridor below. She looked around.**

**"Hello, Fawkes," she said.**

**Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore's phoenix,**

"I didn't know zat you 'ave a phoenix." Fleur said.

"Yes I do, Miss Delacour, and he is very loyal to me." Dumbledore said with a smile.

**was standing on his golden perch beside the door. The size of a swan, with magnificent scarlet-and-gold plumage, he swished his long tail and blinked benignly at Cris.**

**Cris sat down in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. For several minutes, she sat and watched the old headmasters and headmistresses snoozing in their frames, thinking about what she had just heard, and running her fingers over her scar. It had stopped hurting now.**

**She felt much calmer, somehow, now that she was in Dumbledore's office, knowing she would shortly be telling him about the dream. Cris looked up at the walls behind the desk. The patched and ragged Sorting Hat was standing on a shelf. A glass case next to it held a magnificent silver sword with large rubies set into the hilt, which Cris recognized as the one she herself had pulled out of the Sorting Hat in her second year. The sword had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor, founder of Cris' House. She was gazing at it, remembering how it had come to her aid when she had thought all hope was lost, **

"That means that you are a true Gryffindor, no matter what the hat told you." Robin said. Cris smiled at her aunt and Bill continued to read.

**when she noticed a patch of silvery light, dancing and shimmering on the glass case. She looked around for the source of the light and saw a sliver of silver-white shining brightly from within a black cabinet behind her, whose door had not been closed properly. Cris hesitated, glanced at Fawkes, then got up, walked across the office, and pulled open the cabinet door.**

"Cris!" the group moaned. Cris blushed brightly but kept her head up.

"What? My curiosity got the better of me." Cris said.

"Your curiosity may be not very healthy for you." Remus said.

"I know," Cris said quietly. Fred and George heard and kissed her cheek/head her blushing deepening when they did it.

**A shallow stone basin lay there, with odd carvings around the edge: runes and symbols that Cris did not recognize. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which were like nothing Cris had ever seen before. She could not tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid - or like wind made solid - Cris couldn't make up her mind.**

**She wanted to touch it, to find out what it felt like, but nearly four years' experience of the magical world told her that sticking her hand into a bowl full of some unknown substance was a very stupid thing to do.**

"At least you have some common sense." Lily said.

"Of course I do, I just tend to let my curiosity get the better of me sometimes." Cris said.

"No kidding," the group said.

**She therefore pulled her wand out of the inside of her robes, cast a nervous look around the office, looked back at the contents of the basin, and prodded them.**

**The surface of the silvery stuff inside the basin began to swirl very fast. Cris bent closer, her head right inside the cabinet. The silvery substance had become transparent; it looked like glass. She looked down into it expecting to see the stone bottom of the basin - and saw instead an enormous room below the surface of the mysterious substance, a room into which he seemed to be looking through a circular window in the ceiling.**

**The room was dimly lit; she thought it might even be underground, for there were no windows, merely torches in brackets such as the ones that illuminated the walls of Hogwarts. Lowering her face so that her nose was a mere inch away from the glassy substance, Cris saw that rows and rows of witches and wizards were seated around every wall on what seemed to be benches rising in levels. **

"You're seeing some of the Death Eater trials, aren't you?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yeah," Cris said. The adults in the group looked unsettled but Bill continued reading.

**An empty chair stood in the very center of the room. There was something about the chair that gave Cris an ominous feeling. Chains encircled the arms of it, as though its occupants were usually tied to it.**

**Where was this place? It surely wasn't Hogwarts; she had never seen a room like that here in the castle. Moreover, the crowd in the mysterious room at the bottom of the basin was comprised of adults, and Cris knew there were not nearly that many teachers at Hogwarts. They seemed, she thought, to be waiting for something; even though she could only see the tops of their hats, all of their faces seemed to be pointing in one direction, and none of them were talking to one another.**

**The basin being circular, and the room she was observing square, Cris could not make out what was going on in the corners of it. She leaned even closer, tilting her head, trying to see…**

**The tip of her nose touched the strange substance into which she was staring. **

**Dumbledore's office gave an almighty lurch - Cris was thrown forward and pitched headfirst into the substance inside the basin –**

"You fell into a memory?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, kind of like what happened in the second book." Cris said. Charlie nodded and let his older brother continue reading.

**But her head did not hit the stone bottom.**

"What?" Gwen asked.

"Magic," Viktor said with a smile. Gwen gave him a look that said 'No duh,"

**She was falling through something icy cold and black; it was like being sucked into a dark whirlpool –**

"That doesn't sound like fun." Padfoot said.

"It wasn't," Cris said.

**And suddenly, Cris found herself sitting on a bench at the end of the room inside the basin, a bench raised high above the others. She looked up at the high stone ceiling, expecting to see the circular window through which she had just been staring, but there was nothing there but dark, solid stone.**

**Breathing hard and fast Cris looked around her. Not one of the witches and wizards in the room (and there were at least two hundred of them) was looking at her. Not one of them seemed to have noticed that a fourteen-year-old girl had just dropped from the ceiling into their midst. **

"That's because they can't see you." Remus said.

"I know that now." Cris said with a small smile.

**Cris turned to the wizard next to her on the bench and uttered a loud cry of surprise that reverberated around the silent room.**

**She was sitting right next to Albus Dumbledore.**

**"Professor!" Cris said in a kind of strangled whisper. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to - I was just looking at that basin in your cabinet - I - where are we?"**

**But Dumbledore didn't move or speak. He ignored Cris completely. Like every other wizard on the benches, he was staring into the far corner of the room, where there was a door.**

"It is the trials." Remus muttered.

"I wish you didn't have to see those." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Cris gazed, nonplussed, at Dumbledore, then around at the silently watchful crowd, then back at Dumbledore. And then it dawned on her…**

**Once before Cris had found herself somewhere that nobody could see or hear her. That time, she had fallen through a page in an enchanted diary, right into somebody else's memory… and unless she was very much mistaken, something of the sort had happened again…**

"Yep," the group said.

"At least I figured it out." Cris said.

"That's true," Hermione said.

**Cris raised her right hand, hesitated, and then waved it energetically in from of Dumbledore's face. Dumbledore did not blink, look around at Cris, or indeed move at all. And that, in Cris' opinion, settled the matter. Dumbledore wouldn't ignore her like that. She was inside a memory, and this was not the present-day Dumbledore. Yet it couldn't be that long ago… the Dumbledore sitting next to her now was silver-haired, just like the present-day Dumbledore. But what was this place? What were all these wizards waiting for? **

"It must be the early eighties then." Remus said.

"That's what I was thinking as well." Cris said.

**Cris looked around more carefully. The room, as she had suspected when observing it from above, was almost certainly underground - more of a dungeon than a room, she thought. There was a bleak and forbidding air about the place; there were no pictures on the walls, no decorations at all; just these serried rows of benches, rising in levels all around the room, all positioned so that they had a clear view of that chair with the chains on its arms.**

**Before Cris could reach any conclusions about the place in which they were, she heard footsteps. The door in the corner of the dungeon opened and three people entered - or at least one man, flanked by two Dementors.**

**Cris' insides went cold. **

"But you shouldn't be able to feel them if you're in a memory." Robin said.

"I know, I just thought I did." Cris said.

"That makes sense." Remus said.

**The Dementors - tall, hooded creatures whose faces were concealed - were gliding slowly toward the chair in the center of the room, each grasping one of the man's arms with their dead and rotten-looking hands. The man between them looked as though he was about to faint, and Cris couldn't blame him… she knew the Dementors could not touch her inside a memory, but she remembered their power only too well. The watching crowd recoiled slightly as the Dementors placed the man in the chained chair and glided back out of the room. The door swung shut behind them.**

**Cris looked down at the man now sitting in the chair and saw that it was Karkaroff.**

"Our headmaster vas a Death Eater?" Viktor asked shocked.

"Yes, and we're going to figure out how he got out of Azkaban." Sirius said.

**Unlike Dumbledore, Karkaroff looked much younger; his hair and goatee were black. He was not dressed in sleek furs, but in thin and ragged robes. He was shaking. Even as Cris watched, the chains on the arms of the chair glowed suddenly gold and snaked their way up Karkaroff's arms, binding him there.**

**"Igor Karkaroff," said a curt voice to Cris' left. Cris looked around and saw Mr. Crouch standing up in the middle of the bench beside him. Crouch's hair was dark, his face was much less lined, he looked fit and alert. "You have been brought from Azkaban to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic. You have given us to understand that you have important information for us."**

"So that's how he did it." Sirius said with a growl.

"Yeah," Mad-Eye said gruffly.

**Karkaroff straightened himself as best he could, tightly bound to the chair.**

**"I have, sir," he said, and although his voice was very scared, Cris could still hear the familiar unctuous note in it. "I wish to be of use to the Ministry. I wish to help. I - I know that the Ministry is trying to - to round up the last of the Dark Lords supporters. I am eager to assist in any way I can…"**

"Sure you are." Cris said under her breath.

**There was a murmur around the benches. Some of the wizards and witches were surveying Karkaroff with interest, others with pronounced mistrust. Then Cris heard, quite distinctly, from Dumbledore's other side, a familiar, growling voice saying, "Filth."**

"It's Mad-Eye," Charlie said with a smile.

**Cris leaned forward so that she could see past Dumbledore. Mad-Eye Moody was sitting there - except that there was a very noticeable difference in his appearance. He did not have his magical eye, but two normal ones.**

"So this is in 81," Moody said.

**Both were looking down upon Karkaroff, and both were narrowed in intense dislike.**

**"Crouch is going to let him out," Moody breathed quietly to Dumbledore. "He's done a deal with him. Took me six months to track him down, and Crouch is going to let him go if he's got enough new names. Let's hear his information, I say, and throw him straight back to the Dementors."**

**Dumbledore made a small noise of dissent through his long, crooked nose. "Ah, I was forgetting… you don't like the Dementors, do you, Albus?" said Moody with a sardonic smile.**

**"No," said Dumbledore calmly, "I'm afraid I don't. I have long felt the Ministry is wrong to ally itself with such creatures."**

**"But for filth like this…" Moody said softly.**

"They all deserve it." Mad-Eye said finishing what he was saying.

**"You say you have names for us, Karkaroff," said Mr. Crouch. "Let us hear them, please."**

**"You must understand," said Karkaroff hurriedly, "that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named operated always in the greatest secrecy… He preferred that we - I mean to say, his supporters - and I regret now, very deeply, that I ever counted myself among them -"**

**"Get on with it," sneered Moody.**

**"- we never knew the names of every one of our fellows - He alone knew exactly who we all were -"**

"Why is that?" Gwen asked.

"To probably keep them from turning each other in." Remus said with a shrug.

"That makes sense." Gwen said.

"Tom was always really smart." Dumbledore said.

**"Which was a wise move, wasn't it, as it prevented someone like you, Karkaroff, from turning all of them in," muttered Moody.**

**"Yet you say you have some names for us?" said Mr. Crouch.**

**"I - I do," said Karkaroff breathlessly. "And these were important supporters, mark you. People I saw with my own eyes doing his bidding. I give this information as a sign that I fully and totally renounce him, and am filled with a remorse so deep I can barely -"**

**"These names are?" said Mr. Crouch sharply.**

**Karkaroff drew a deep breath.**

**"There was Antonin Dolohov," he said. "I - I saw him torture countless Muggles and - and non-supporters of the Dark Lord."**

Cris looked up when she heard Mrs. Weasley growling at the name.

"He was part of the group who killed Fabian and Gideon." Mr. Weasley said.

"How many did it take?" Gwen asked.

"I'm not sure, but they took some of them with them." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"And helped him do it," murmured Moody.**

**"We have already apprehended Dolohov," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after yourself."**

**"Indeed?" said Karkaroff, his eyes widening. "I - I am delighted to hear it!"**

**But he didn't look it. Cris could tell that this news had come as a real blow to him. One of his names was worthless.**

**"Any others?" said Crouch coldly.**

**"Why, yes… there was Rosier," said Karkaroff hurriedly. "Evan Rosier."**

**"Rosier is dead," said Crouch. "He was caught shortly after you were too. He preferred to fight rather than come quietly and was killed in the struggle."**

"That's what most of them did." Kingsley said.

"How many Aurors were killed?" Gwen asked.

"A lot even some muggles doing nothing, oblivious to our war were killed as well." McGonagall said. Gwen looked down wondering if her uncle was one of the Muggles that were killed by the Death Eaters.

"**Took a bit of me with him, though," whispered Moody to Cris' right. Cris looked around at him once more, and saw him indicating the large chunk out of his nose to Dumbledore.**

"**No - no more than Rosier deserved!" said Karkaroff, a real note of panic in his voice now.**

"Because his plan is backfiring on him." Sirius said with a grin.

**Cris could see that he was starting to worry that none of his information would be of any use to the Ministry. Karkaroff's eyes darted toward the door in the corner, behind which the Dementors undoubtedly still stood, waiting.**

**"Any more?" said Crouch.**

**"Yes!" said Karkaroff. "There was Travers - he helped murder the McKinnon's! Mulciber - he specialized in the Imperius Curse, forced countless people to do horrific things! Rookwood, who was a spy, and passed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named useful information from inside the Ministry itself!"**

"Really?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. Lily had thought of a pad of paper and a quill and started writing down these names of Death Eaters.

"Good thinking Lily," Prongs whispered.

**Cris could tell that, this time, Karkaroff had struck gold. The watching crowd was all murmuring together.**

**"Rookwood?" said Mr. Crouch, nodding to a witch sitting in front of him, who began scribbling upon her piece of parchment. "Augustus Rookwood of the Department of Mysteries?"**

**"The very same," said Karkaroff eagerly. "I believe he used a network of well-placed wizards, both inside the Ministry and out, to collect information -"**

**"But Travers and Mulciber we have," said Mr. Crouch. "Very well, Karkaroff, if that is all, you will be returned to Azkaban while we decide -"**

"He should have stayed there." Sirius said.

"I agree," Robin said.

**"Not yet!" cried Karkaroff, looking quite desperate. "Wait, I have more!"**

**Cris could see him sweating in the torchlight, his white skin contrasting strongly with the black of his hair and beard.**

**"Snape!" he shouted. "Severus Snape!"**

The people from the past gasped and turned to glare at Snape.

"And you let him teach at the school?!" Moony asked his eyebrows rose.

"I'm sure it will be explained, Severus is not with them anymore." Dumbledore said.

**"Snape has been cleared by this council," said Crouch disdainfully. "He has been vouched for by Albus Dumbledore."**

**"No!" shouted Karkaroff, straining at the chains that bound him to the chair. "I assure you! Severus Snape is a Death Eater!"**

**Dumbledore had gotten to his feet.**

**"I have given evidence already on this matter," he said calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."**

"Why did you change sides?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"It's in the last book Uncle Charlie, just be patient." Lily J said. Charlie looked at his niece and nodded though not happy about having to wait.

**Cris turned to look at Mad-Eye Moody. He was wearing a look of deep skepticism behind Dumbledore's back.**

**"Very well, Karkaroff," Crouch said coldly, "you have been of assistance. I shall review your case. You will return to Azkaban in the meantime…"**

**Mr. Crouch's voice faded. Cris looked around; the dungeon was dissolving as though it were made of smoke; everything was fading; she could see only her own body - all else was swirling darkness…**

"The memories changing." Remus said. Cris gave him the no duh look and Remus smirked at her.

**And then, the dungeon returned. Cris was sitting in a different seat, still on the highest bench, but now to the left side of Mr. Crouch. The atmosphere seemed quite different: relaxed, even cheerful. The witches and wizards all around the walls were talking to one another, almost as though they were at some sort of sporting event. Cris noticed a witch halfway up the rows of benches opposite.**

**She had short blonde hair, was wearing magenta robes, and was sucking the end of an acid-green quill. It was, unmistakably, a younger Rita Skeeter.**

"She's going to trash a Death Eater, at least that's good." Tonks said.

"Yep," Charlie said.

**Cris looked around; Dumbledore was sitting beside her again, wearing different robes. Mr. Crouch looked more tired and somehow fiercer, gaunter… Cris understood. It was a different memory, a different day… a different trial.**

**The door in the corner opened, and Ludo Bagman walked into the room.**

"Bagman is a Death Eater?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know." Bill said.

**This was not, however, a Ludo Bagman gone to seed, but a Ludo Bagman who was clearly at the height of his Quidditch-playing fitness. His nose wasn't broken now; he was tall and lean and muscular. Bagman looked nervous as he sat down in the chained chair, but it did not bind him there as it had bound Karkaroff,**

"That's good at least; maybe they just want to question him." Padfoot said.

"That's possible," Moony said.

**and Bagman, perhaps taking heart from this, glanced around at the watching crowd, waved at a couple of them, and managed a small smile.**

**"Ludo Bagman, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to the activities of the Death Eaters," said Mr. Crouch. "We have heard the evidence against you, and are about to reach our verdict. Do you have anything to add to your testimony before we pronounce judgment?"**

**Cris couldn't believe her ears. Ludo Bagman, a Death Eater?**

"No, just that he was seen with a couple of Death Eaters, that doesn't exactly mean he, himself, is a Death Eater." Robin said.

"Oh," Gwen said.

**"Only," said Bagman, smiling awkwardly, "well - I know I've been a bit of an idiot -"**

**One or two wizards and witches in the surrounding seats smiled indulgently. Mr. Crouch did not appear to share their feelings. He was staring down at Ludo Bagman with an expression of the utmost severity and dislike.**

**"You never spoke a truer word, boy," someone muttered dryly to Dumbledore behind Cris. She looked around and saw Moody sitting there again. "If I didn't know he'd always been dim, I'd have said some of those Bludgers had permanently affected his brain…"**

"Do you like quidditch, Mad-Eye?" Tonks asked.

"Not really," Mad-Eye said.

**"Ludovic Bagman, you were caught passing information to Lord Voldemort's supporters," said Mr. Crouch. "For this, I suggest a term of imprisonment in Azkaban lasting no less than -"**

"He didn't get sent there, did he?" Padfoot asked.

"No," Charlie said.

**But there was an angry outcry from the surrounding benches. Several of the witches and wizards around the walls stood up, shaking their heads, and even their fists, at Mr. Crouch.**

**"But I've told you, I had no idea!" Bagman called earnestly over the crowd's babble, his round blue eyes widening. "None at all! Old Rookwood was a friend of my dad's… never crossed my mind he was in with You-Know-Who! I thought I was collecting information for our side!**

"Well that's the sad part, you never know who is a Death Eater until it's too late." Robin said.

"That's so not cool." Gwen said.

"That's how it was." Remus said.

**And Rookwood kept talking about getting me a job in the Ministry later on… once my Quidditch days are over, you know… I mean, I can't keep getting hit by Bludgers for the rest of my life, can I?"**

**There were titters from the crowd.**

**"It will be put to the vote," said Mr. Crouch coldly. He turned to the right-hand side of the dungeon. "The jury will please raise their hands… those in favor of imprisonment…"**

**Cris looked toward the right-hand side of the dungeon.**

**Not one person raised their hand. Many of the witches and wizards around the walls began to clap. One of the witches on the jury stood up.**

**"Yes?" barked Crouch.**

**"We'd just like to congratulate Mr. Bagman on his splendid performance for England in the Quidditch match against Turkey last Saturday," the witch said breathlessly.**

"Is Quidditch everything to you guys?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," said the Quidditch fans.

**Mr. Crouch looked furious. The dungeon was ringing with applause now. Bagman got to his feet and bowed, beaming.**

**"Despicable," Mr. Crouch spat at Dumbledore, sitting down as Bagman walked out of the dungeon. "Rookwood get him a job indeed… The day Ludo Bagman joins us will be a sad day indeed for the Ministry…"**

"Then I think it is a sad day." Padfoot said.

"Yep," Prongs said.

**And the dungeon dissolved again. When it had returned, Cris looked around. She and Dumbledore were still sitting beside Mr. Crouch, but the atmosphere could not have been more different. There was total silence, broken only by the dry sobs of a frail, wispy-looking witch in the seat next to Mr. Crouch. She was clutching a handkerchief to her mouth with trembling hands.**

"It's his son's trial." Robin said.

**Cris looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.**

**"Bring them in," he said, and his voice echoed through the silent dungeon.**

**The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this time, flanking a group of four people. Cris saw the people in the crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one another.**

**The Dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor. There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; **

"You mean to tell me my bitch of a cousin got trial while he just tossed me in Azkaban without a trial!?" Sirius shouted. Robin put a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"Calm down love, you'll get a fair trial by the end of it all." Robin said. Sirius took a deep breath and Bill continued reading.

**and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat whimpering into her handkerchief.**

**Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face.**

"But isn't the youngest one his son?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," the group said.

"Then he shouldn't have been that furious with him unless he did something terrible." Gwen said.

"He did do something terrible." Cris said.

**"You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," he said clearly, "so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous -"**

"Never mind then." Gwen said.

**"Father," said the boy with the straw-colored hair. "Father… please…"**

**"- that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court," said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son's voice.**

**"We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror - Frank Longbottom -**

"What?" the past marauders asked.

"What about Alice?" Lily asked.

"You'll find out." Hermione said. Lily looked over at Neville who was being hugged and comforted by Ginny; Charlie was rubbing his back like he would do for his brothers.

**and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse,**

"No," Lily gasped. Prongs grabbed her hand to comfort her.

**believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -"**

**"Father, I didn't!" shrieked the boy in chains below. "I didn't, I swear it. Father, don't send me back to the Dementors -"**

**"You are further accused," bellowed Mr. Crouch, "of using the Cruciatus Curse on Frank Longbottom's wife,**

Lily cried out and hid her face in Prong's chest and she cried. The past marauders sat shocked, Frank and Alice always seemed so strong.

**when he would not give you information. You planned to restore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to power, and to resume the lives of violence you presumably led while he was strong. I now ask the jury -"**

**"Mother!" screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. "Mother, stop him. Mother, I didn't do it, it wasn't me!"**

"Did he do it?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, he was a part of that group. After Voldemort's downfall the Death Eaters started going after the Order of Phoenix members, it was a group that was put together to fight against the Death Eaters and Voldemort." Remus said.

**"I now ask the jury," shouted Mr. Crouch, "to raise their hands if they believe, as I do, that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban!"**

"As they should." Gwen said.

**In unison, the witches and wizards along the right-hand side of the dungeon raised their hands. The crowd around the walls began to clap as it had for Bagman, their faces full of savage triumph. The boy began to scream. "No! Mother, no! I didn't do it, I didn't do it, I didn't know! Don't send me there, don't let him!"**

"Shut up," Neville said into Ginny's hair. Ginny hugged him tighter and Bill continued reading.

**The Dementors were gliding back into the room. The boys' three companions rose quietly from their seats; the woman with the heavy-lidded eyes looked up at Crouch and called, "The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch! Throw us into Azkaban; we will wait! He will rise again and will come for us, he will reward us beyond any of his other supporters! We alone were faithful! We alone tried to find him!"**

Cris shivered at that, he did rise and more than likely will go after those still in Azkaban.

**But the boy was trying to fight off the Dementors, even though Cris could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle.**

**"I'm your son!" he screamed up at Crouch. "I'm your son!"**

**"You are no son of mine!" bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. "I have no son!"**

**The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted.**

"That is not something you should say in front of your wife." Remus said.

"No kidding, poor woman, even though her son did something terrible that is still her baby." Mrs. Weasley said.

**Crouch appeared not to have noticed.**

**"Take them away!" Crouch roared at the Dementors, spit flying from his mouth. "Take them away, and may they rot there!"**

**"Father! Father, I wasn't involved! No! No! Father, please!"**

**"I think Cris, it is time to return to my office," said a quiet voice in Cris' ear.**

"Uh-oh, you're busted." Padfoot said.

"I don't think she'll get into trouble though." Prongs said.

**Cris started. She looked around. Then she looked on her other side.**

**There was an Albus Dumbledore sitting on her right, watching Crouch's son being dragged away by the Dementors - and there was an Albus Dumbledore on her left, looking right at her.**

"One of the weirdest experiences of my life." Cris said.

"I can imagine that." Cris said.

**"Come," said the Dumbledore on her left, and she put his hand under Cris' elbow. Cris felt herself rising into the air; the dungeon dissolved around her; for a moment, all was blackness, and then she felt as though she had done a slow-motion somersault, suddenly landing flat on her feet, in what seemed like the dazzling light of Dumbledore's sunlit office. The stone basin was shimmering in the cabinet in front of her, and Albus Dumbledore was standing beside her.**

"You didn't get into too much trouble did you?" Lily asked.

"No much," Cris said.

**"Professor," Cris gasped, "I know I shouldn't've - I didn't mean - the cabinet door was sort of open and -"**

**"I quite understand," said Dumbledore. He lifted the basin, carried it over to his desk, placed it upon the polished top, and sat down in the chair behind it. He motioned for Cris to sit down opposite him.**

**Cris did so, staring at the stone basin. The contents had returned to their original, silvery-white state, swirling and rippling beneath her gaze.**

**"What is it?" Cris asked shakily.**

**"This? It is called a Pensieve," said Dumbledore. "I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."**

"Which is why Gwen gave me a journal for my fifteenth birthday." Cris said. Gwen smiled and her friend, she knew that Cris could use it while at her horrid relatives house.

"That's nice of you." Lily said.

**"Yeah, my thoughts tend to go everywhere sometimes." said Cris, blushing somewhat. Dumbledore chuckled his eyes twinkling.**

"You always do that when revealing something about yourself." Hermione said. Cris blushed and hid in George's shoulder.

**"At these times," said Dumbledore, indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."**

"That's true," Hermione and Cris said.

"Do we want to know?" Lily asked.

"It's just something we do when we study, Ron doesn't really understand it so he studies in his own way." Cris said.

"It's bloody confusing." Ron said.

"**You mean… that stuff's your thoughts?" Cris said, staring at the swirling white substance in the basin.**

**"Certainly," said Dumbledore. "Let me show you."**

**Dumbledore drew his wand out of the inside of his robes and placed the tip into his own silvery hair, near his temple. When he took the wand away, hair seemed to be clinging to it - but then Cris saw that it was in fact a glistening strand of the same strange silvery-white substance that filled the Pensieve. Dumbledore added this fresh thought to the basin, and Cris, astonished, saw her own face swimming around the surface of the bowl. **

"I bet that was weird." Prongs said.

"It was something different." Cris said with a shrug.

**Dumbledore placed his long hands on either side of the Pensieve and swirled it, rather as a gold prospector would pan for fragments of gold… and Cris saw his own face change smoothly into Snape's, who opened his mouth and spoke to the ceiling, his voice echoing slightly.**

**"It's coming back… Karkaroff's too… stronger and clearer than ever…"**

"The Mark," the group said.

**"A connection I could have made without assistance," Dumbledore sighed, "but never mind." He peered over the top of his half-moon spectacles at Cris, who was gaping at Snape's face, which was continuing to swirl around the bowl. "I was using the Pensieve when Mr. Fudge arrived for our meeting and put it away rather hastily. Undoubtedly I did not fasten the cabinet door properly. Naturally, it would have attracted your attention."**

**"I'm sorry," Cris mumbled.**

**Dumbledore shook his head. "Curiosity is not a sin," he said. "But we should exercise caution with our curiosity… yes, indeed…"**

"That's not going to work really well." Hermione said.

"I'm not that bad." Cris said.

"Sure," Ron and Hermione said.

**Frowning slightly, he prodded the thoughts within the basin with the tip of his wand. Instantly, a figure rose out of it, a plump, scowling girl of about sixteen, who began to revolve slowly, with her feet still in the basin. She took no notice whatsoever of Cris or Professor Dumbledore. When she spoke, her voice echoed as Snape's had done, as though it were coming from the depths of the stone basin.**

**"He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday…"**

**"But why Bertha," said Dumbledore sadly, looking up at the now silently revolving girl, "why did you have to follow him in the first place?"**

**"Bertha?" Cris whispered, looking up at her. "Is that - was that Bertha Jorkins?"**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore, prodding the thoughts in the basin again; Bertha sank back into them, and they became silvery and opaque once more. "That was Bertha as I remember her at school."**

"And she had a very sharp memory, especially about gossip." Robin said.

"Then how did she loose that memory?" Gwen asked.

"You'll find out Gwen." Cris said.

**The silvery light from the Pensieve illuminated Dumbledore's face, and it struck Cris suddenly how very old he was looking. She knew, of course, that Dumbledore was getting on in years, but somehow she never really thought of Dumbledore as an old man.**

**"So, Cris," said Dumbledore quietly. "Before you got lost in my thoughts, you wanted to tell me something."**

**"Yes," said Cris. "Professor - I was in Divination just now, and - er - I fell asleep."**

"It's understandable, that tower is very hot and you just want to sleep." Padfoot said.

**She hesitated here, wondering if a reprimand was coming, but Dumbledore merely said, "Quite understandable. Continue."**

**"Well, I had a dream," said Cris. "A dream about Lord Voldemort. He was torturing Wormtail… you know who Wormtail-"**

The group growled at the mention of the name.

**"I do know," said Dumbledore promptly. "Please continue."**

**"Voldemort got a letter from an owl. He said something like, Wormtail's blunder had been repaired. He said someone was dead. Then he said, Wormtail wouldn't be fed to the snake - there was a snake beside his chair. He said - he said he'd be feeding me to it, instead. Then he did the Cruciatus Curse on Wormtail - and my scar hurt," Cris said. "It woke me up, it hurt so badly."**

**Dumbledore merely looked at her.**

**"Er - that's all," said Cris.**

**"I see," said Dumbledore quietly. "I see. Now, has your scar hurt at any other time this year, excepting the time it woke you up over the summer?"**

**"No, I- has Sirius been writing to you as well?" said Cris, astonished.**

**"You are not Sirius's only correspondent," said Dumbledore. "I have also been in contact with him ever since he left Hogwarts last year. It was I who suggested the mountainside cave as the safest place for him to stay."**

"So it would be Dumbledore's fault if he got caught." Prongs said.

"Relax Prongs, I won't get myself caught." Sirius said.

**Dumbledore got up and began walking up and down behind his desk. Every now and then, he placed his wand tip to his temple, removed another shining silver thought, and added it to the Pensieve. The thoughts inside began to swirl so fast that Cris couldn't make out anything clearly: It was merely a blur of color.**

**"Professor?" she said quietly, after a couple of minutes.**

**Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at Cris.**

**"My apologies," he said quietly. He sat back down at his desk.**

**"D'you - d'you know why my scar's hurting me?"**

**Dumbledore looked very intently at Cris for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that… It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."**

**"But… why?"**

**"Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar."**

"Now that just sucks." Gwen said.

"It does," Cris said, "but it can also be very useful."

"How?" Padfoot asked.

"Christmas, this year." Cris said.

"Does it have to do why Arthur has bandages on him?" Lily asked.

"Yep," Cris said.

**"So you think… that dream… did it really happen?"**

**"It is possible," said Dumbledore. "I would say - probable. Cris - did you see Voldemort?"**

**"No," said Cris. "Just the back of his chair. But - there wouldn't have been anything to see, would there? I mean, he hasn't got a body, has he? But… but then how could he have held the wand?" Cris said slowly.**

**"How indeed?" muttered Dumbledore. "How indeed…"**

"It doesn't make any sense." Mrs. Weasley said.

"You'll see how." Cris said.

**Neither Dumbledore nor Cris spoke for a while. Dumbledore was gazing across the room, and, every now and then, placing his wand tip to his temple and adding another shining silver thought to the seething mass within the Pensieve.**

**"Professor," Cris said at last, "do you think he's getting stronger?"**

**"Voldemort?" said Dumbledore, looking at Cris over the Pensieve. It was the characteristic, piercing look Dumbledore had given her on other occasions, and always made Cris feel as though Dumbledore were seeing right through her in a way that even Moody's magical eye could not. "Once again Cris, I can only give you my suspicions."**

**Dumbledore sighed again, and he looked older, and wearier, than ever. "The years of Voldemort's ascent to power," he said, "were marked with disappearances. Bertha Jorkins has vanished without a trace in the place where Voldemort was certainly known to be last. Mr. Crouch too has disappeared… within these very grounds. And there was a third disappearance, one which the Ministry, I regret to say, do not consider of any importance, for it concerns a Muggle. His name was Frank Bryce, he lived in the village where Voldemort's father grew up, and he has not been seen since last August. You see, I read the Muggle newspapers, unlike most of my Ministry friends."**

"Molly dear…"

"No Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said. The group laughed, it was just like Mr. Weasley to try and get the Muggle newspaper.

**Dumbledore looked very seriously at Cris.**

**"These disappearances seem to me to be linked. The Ministry disagrees - as you may have heard, while waiting outside my office."**

**Cris nodded. Silence fell between them again, Dumbledore extracting thoughts every now and then. Cris felt as though she ought to go, but her curiosity held her in her chair.**

**"Professor?" she said again.**

**"Yes, Cris?" said Dumbledore.**

**"Er… could I ask you about… that court thing I was in… in the Pensieve?"**

**"You could," said Dumbledore heavily. "I attended it many times, but some trials come back to me more clearly than others… particularly now…"**

**"You know - you know the trial you found me in? The one with Crouch's son? Well… were they talking about Neville's parents?"**

**Dumbledore gave Cris a very sharp look. "Has Neville never told you why he has been brought up by his grandmother?" he said.**

Neville looked down keeping the tears at bay, even now thinking of his parents fate gets him worked up sometimes.

**Cris shook her head, wondering, as she did so, how she could have failed to ask Neville this, in almost four years of knowing him.**

**"Yes, they were talking about Neville's parents," said Dumbledore. "His father, Frank, was an Auror just like Professor Moody. He and his wife were tortured for information about Voldemort's whereabouts after he lost his powers, as you heard."**

"I can't believe it," Lily whispered.

**"So they're dead?" said Cris quietly.**

**"No," said Dumbledore, his voice full of a bitterness Cris had never heard there before. "They are insane. They are both in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I believe Neville visits them, with his grandmother, during the holidays. They do not recognize him."**

Lily really started to cry, she didn't want to think about their fate, she thought that they had died but this is much worse.

**Cris sat there, horror-struck. She had never known… never, in four years, bothered to find out…**

**"The Longbottom's were very popular," said Dumbledore. **

"And two of the greatest friends one could have." Moony said.

"Really?" Neville asked looking over at Moony.

"Yes, Lily and Alice were best friends, Frank was our friend as well and would come pranking with us sometimes but didn't really become a marauder." Padfoot said.

**"The attacks on them came after Voldemort's fall from power, just when everyone thought they were safe. Those attacks caused a wave of fury such as I have never known. The Ministry was under great pressure to catch those who had done it. Unfortunately, the Longbottom's evidence was - given their condition - none too reliable."**

**"Then Mr. Crouch's son might not have been involved?" said Cris slowly. Dumbledore shook his head.**

**"As to that, I have no idea."**

"He was," Neville mumbled under her breath.

**Cris sat in silence once more, watching the contents of the Pensieve swirl. There were two more questions she was burning to ask… but they concerned the guilt of living people…**

**"Er," she said, "Mr. Bagman…"**

**"… has never been accused of any Dark activity since," said Dumbledore calmly.**

"Good," Ron said.

"**Right," said Cris hastily, staring at the contents of the Pensieve again, which were swirling more slowly now that Dumbledore had stopped adding thoughts.**

**"And… er…"**

**But the Pensieve seemed to be asking her question for her.**

**Snape's face was swimming on the surface again. Dumbledore glanced down into it, and then up at Cris.**

**"No more has Professor Snape," he said.**

"At least there's that." Lily said shakily.

**Cris looked into Dumbledore's light blue eyes, and the thing she really wanted to know spilled out of her mouth before she could stop it.**

**"What made you think he'd really stopped supporting Voldemort, Professor?"**

**Dumbledore held Cris' gaze for a few seconds, and then said, "That, Cris, is a matter between Professor Snape and myself."**

"Actually mum figures that out in her seventh year. Professor Snape told her in a way." James said. Snape's eyes widened but looked down into his lap before James motioned for Bill to continue.

**Cris knew that the interview was over; Dumbledore did not look angry, yet there was a finality in his tone that told Cris it was time to go. She stood up, and so did Dumbledore.**

**"Cris," he said as Cris reached the door. "Please do not speak about Neville's parents to anybody else. He has the right to let people know, when he is ready."**

"Thank you for that by the way." Neville said. Cris smiled at him.

"Of course Nev, it wasn't my story to tell." Cris said.

**"Yes, Professor," said Cris, turning to go.**

**"And-"**

**Cris looked back. Dumbledore was standing over the Pensieve, his face lit from beneath by its silvery spots of light, looking older than ever. He stared at Cris for a moment, and then said, "Good luck with the third task."**

"I needed it." Cris said.

"That's the chapter." Bill said. He handed the book to his daughter who opened it to the next chapter.


	36. Chapter 31: The Third Task

"**Chapter 31: The Third Task," **Victoire read.

Cris paled and Fred and George hugged her closer to them.

"This isn't going to be good is it?" Lily asked seeing her daughter pale.

"No, it isn't." Ginny said for her friend. Victoire took a deep breath and started the chapter.

**"Dumbledore reckons You-Know-Who's getting stronger again as well?" Ron whispered.**

**Everything Cris had seen in the Pensieve, nearly everything Dumbledore had told and shown her afterward, she had now shared with Ron and Hermione - and, of course, with Sirius, to whom Cris had sent an owl the moment she had left Dumbledore's office. Cris, Ron, and Hermione sat up late in the common room once again that night, talking it all over until Cris' mind was reeling, until she understood what Dumbledore had meant about a head becoming so full of thoughts that it would have been a relief to siphon them off.**

**Ron stared into the common room fire. Cris thought she saw Ron shiver slightly, even though the evening was warm.**

**"****And he trusts Snape?" Ron said. "He really trusts Snape, even though he knows he was a Death Eater?" **

"It's partly because I knew that Voldemort was wrong." Snape said quietly.

**"****Yes," said Cris.**

**Hermione had not spoken for ten minutes. She was sitting with her forehead in her hands, staring at her knees. Cris thought she too looked as though she could have done with a Pensieve. **

"I could have, it would have been helpful." Hermione said. Cris grinned at her but didn't say anything else as Victoire continued reading.

**"****Rita Skeeter," she muttered finally.**

"What about her?" Bill asked.

"You'll see." Hermione said with a smile.

**"****How can you be worrying about her now?" said Ron, in utter disbelief.**

**"****I'm not worrying about her," Hermione said to her knees. "I'm just thinking… remember what she said to me in the Three Broomsticks? 'I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl.' This is what she meant, isn't it? She reported his trial, she knew he'd passed information to the Death Eaters. And Winky too, remember… 'Ludo Bagman's a bad wizard.' Mr. Crouch would have been furious he got off, he would have talked about it at home."**

"But he was cleared." Charlie said.

"I know, but it still makes you think about the other things that could have happened." Cris said.

"Too true," Sirius said.

**"****Yeah, but Bagman didn't pass information on purpose, did he?" Hermione shrugged.**

**"****And Fudge reckons Madame Maxime attacked Crouch?" Ron said, turning back to Cris.**

**"****Yeah," said Cris, "but he's only saying that because Crouch disappeared near the Beauxbatons carriage."**

"Now that's just being prejudice." Lily said.

"Yep," Cris said.

**"****We never thought of her, did we?" said Ron slowly. "Mind you, she's definitely got giant blood, and she doesn't want to admit it-"**

**"****Of course she doesn't," said Hermione sharply, looking up. "Look what happened to Hagrid when Rita found out about his mother. Look at Fudge, jumping to conclusions about her, just because she's part giant. Who needs that sort of prejudice? I'd probably say I had big bones if I knew that's what I'd get for telling the truth."**

**Hermione looked at her watch. "We haven't done any practicing!" she said, looking shocked. "We were going to do the Impediment Curse!**

"That's a good one to learn." Remus said.

"Helpful too," Cris muttered under her breath.

**We'll have to really get down to it tomorrow! Come on. Cris, you need to get some sleep."**

**Cris and Ron went slowly upstairs to their dormitory. As Cris pulled on her pajamas, she looked over at Neville's bed. True to her word to Dumbledore, she had not told Ron and Hermione about Neville s parents. As Cris took off her glasses and climbed into her four-poster, she imagined how it must feel to have parents still living but unable to recognize you. She often got sympathy from strangers for being an orphan, but as she listened to Neville's snores, she thought that Neville deserved it more than she did. **

"Thanks Cris, but I don't need it." Neville said.

"I know," Cris said.

**Lying in the darkness, Cris felt a rush of anger and hate toward the people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom… She remembered the jeers of the crowd as Crouch's son and his companions had been dragged from the court by the Dementors… She understood how they had felt… Then she remembered the milk-white face of the screaming boy and realized with a jolt that he had died a year later…**

"No he didn't," Cris muttered under her breath.

"What?" Fred asked.

"You'll find out." Cris said.

**It was Voldemort, Cris thought, staring up at the canopy of her bed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort… He was the one who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these lives…**

"It makes one wonder how he did all that without a care in the world." Gwen said.

"It was the hate of his father." Dumbledore said.

"Sir, before you go on, you tell Mum in the sixth book." James said. Dumbledore nodded and Victoire continued reading.

**Ron and Hermione were supposed to be studying for their exams, which would finish on the day of the third task, but they were putting most of their efforts into helping Cris prepare.**

"Well, at least you'll pass your DADA exams." Bill said with a chuckle.

"Yep," Ron and Hermione said with a chuckle.

**"Don't worry about it," Hermione said shortly when Cris pointed this out to them and said she didn't mind practicing on her own for a while, "at least we'll get top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We'd never have found out about all these hexes in class."**

"You should have if you had competent teachers." Remus said.

"Yeah, blame the teachers." Gwen said with a smile.

"**Good training for when we're all Aurors," said Ron excitedly, attempting the Impediment Curse on a wasp that had buzzed into the room and making it stop dead in midair.**

"I hate wasps, I'm allergic to them." Cris said.

"I didn't know that." Sirius said. Cris blushed and looked away.

"I got stung when I was over at Gwen's one day over the summer and I got hives all over my body, I was just lucky that I could breathe." Cris said.

"That sounds horrible." Prongs said.

"That's why I try not to go near them at all." Cris said.

**The mood in the castle as they entered June became excited and tense again. Everyone was looking forward to the third task, which would take place a week before the end of term. Cris was practicing hexes at every available moment. She felt more confident about this task than either of the others. Difficult and dangerous though it would undoubtedly be, Moody was right: Cris had managed to find her way past monstrous creatures and enchanted barriers before now, and this time she had some notice, some chance to prepare herself for what lay ahead.**

"Not entirely." Cris mumbled. No matter how prepared she was she wasn't prepared for the cup to be a portkey. Fred and George knew what she was thinking and brought her closer to them giving her some protection.

**Tired of walking in on Cris, Hermione, and Ron all over the school, Professor McGonagall had given them permission to use the empty Transfiguration classroom at lunchtimes. Cris had soon mastered the Impediment Curse, a spell to slow down and obstruct attackers; the Reductor Curse, which would enable her to blast solid objects out of her way; and the Four-Point Spell, a useful discovery of Hermione's that would make her wand point due north, therefore enabling her to check whether she was going in the right direction within the maze. **

"Good thinking," Lily said.

"That would've been useful for Padfoot to learn. I've lost track of times where we've gotten lost when he was leading us." Robin said with a laugh. Sirius looked at him with hurtful eyes.

"If you weren't pregnant Kit, I would slap you with a pillow." Sirius said. Robin smiled and kissed him and Victoire continued reading.

**She was still having trouble with the Shield Charm, though. This was supposed to cast a temporary, invisible wall around herself that deflected minor curses; Hermione managed to shatter it with a well-placed Jelly-Legs Jinx, and Cris wobbled around the room for ten minutes afterward before she had looked up the counter jinx.**

"I know you knew it Mia. You just wanted me to wobble all over the room." Cris said glaring at Hermione who blushed and looked down.

"Ah, now that's just cruel." The twins said.

"Nah, that's just Mia's prankster side coming out, it is there." Cris said. Hermione glared at her but Victoire kept reading.

**"You're still doing really well, though," Hermione said encouragingly, looking down her list and crossing off those spells they had already learned. "Some of these are bound to come in handy."**

**"Come and look at this," said Ron, who was standing by the window. He was staring down onto the grounds. "What's Malfoy doing?"**

**Cris and Hermione went to see. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in the shadow of a tree below. Crabbe and Goyle seemed to be keeping a lookout; both were smirking. Malfoy was holding his hand up to his mouth and speaking into it.**

**"He looks like he's using a walkie-talkie," said Cris curiously.**

"What's that?" asked the pure-bloods.

"It's this devise that Muggles have which can help communicate over distances, kind of like a telephone." Gwen said.

"Interesting," Mr. Weasley said.

**"He can't be," said Hermione, "I've told you, those sorts of things don't work around Hogwarts. Come on, Cris," she added briskly, turning away from the window and moving back into the middle of the room, "let's try that Shield Charm again."**

"Again, a useful charm." Remus said.

**Sirius was sending daily owls now. Like Hermione, he seemed to want to concentrate on getting Cris through the last task before they concerned themselves with anything else. He reminded Cris in every letter that whatever might be going on outside the walls of Hogwarts was not Cris' responsibility, nor was it within her power to influence it.**

**If Voldemort is really getting stronger again, he wrote, my priority is to ensure your safety. He cannot hope to lay hands on you while you are under Dumbledore's protection, **

"Yet, he did." Cris mumbled. She was starting to shake, they were getting closer to the graveyard and she wasn't sure if she could sit here for it. The twins could feel her starting to shake so they held her closer to them.

**but all the same, take no risks: Concentrate on getting through that maze safely, and then we can turn our attention to other matters.**

**Cris' nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those she had felt before the first and second tasks. For one thing, she was confident that, this time, she had done everything in her power to prepare for the task. For another, this was the final hurdle, and however well or badly she did, the tournament would at last be over, which would be an enormous relief.**

**Breakfast was a very noisy affair at the Gryffindor table on the morning of the third task. The post owls appeared, bringing Cris a good-luck card from Sirius. It was only a piece of parchment, folded over and bearing a muddy paw print on its front, but Cris appreciated it all the same. A screech owl arrived for Hermione, carrying her morning copy of the Daily Prophet as usual. She unfolded the paper, glanced at the front page, and spat out a mouthful of pumpkin juice all over it.**

"Great, what now?" asked the room.

"You'll see." Hermione said.

**"What?" said Cris and Ron together, staring at her. "Nothing," said Hermione quickly, trying to shove the paper out of sight, but Ron grabbed it. He stared at the headline and said, "No way. Not today. That old cow."**

"It's something about Cris, isn't?" Lily asked. Nobody said anything so Victoire kept reading.

**"What?" said Cris. "Rita Skeeter again?"**

**"No," said Ron, and just like Hermione, he attempted to push the paper out of sight.**

"That's not going to work, she's really stubborn." Remus said.

"We know," Ron and Hermione said.

**"It's about me, isn't it?" said Cris.**

**"No," said Ron, in an entirely unconvincing tone. But before Cris could demand to see the paper Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table.**

**"Hey, Potter! Potter! How's your head? You feeling all right? Sure you're not going to go berserk on us?"**

"How did Skeeter even know, she wasn't there when it happened?" Bill said.

"You'll see." Hermione said.

"I'm starting to really hate that answer." Prongs said.

"I know but pretty soon they won't know what is going to be happening." Lily said.

"So true," Prongs said.

**Malfoy was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet too. Slytherins up and down the table were sniggering, twisting in their seats to see Cris' reaction.**

**"Let me see it," Cris said to Ron. "Give it here."**

**Very reluctantly, Ron handed over the newspaper. Cris turned it over and found herself staring at her own picture, beneath the banner headline:**

'**CRISTAL POTTER DISTURBED AND DANGEROUS'**

"You aren't either." Lily said sneering at the book. Cris smiled gratefully at her mum before Victoire continued reading.

**The girl who defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is unstable and possibly dangerous, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent. Alarming evidence has recently come to light about Cristal Potter's strange behavior, which casts doubts upon her suitability to compete in a demanding competition like the Triwizard Tournament, or even to attend Hogwarts School.**

**Potter, the Daily Prophet can exclusively reveal, regularly collapses at school, and is often heard to complain of pain in the scar on her forehead (relic of the curse with which You-Know-Who attempted to kill her). On Monday last, midway through a Divination lesson, your Daily Prophet reporter witnessed Potter storming from the class, claiming that her scar was hurting too badly to continue studying.**

"How in the world was she there?" Lily asked.

"She couldn't have, even with the window open." Charlie said.

"Unless she's an animagus." Padfoot said.

"She isn't," Umbridge said.

"You don't know that." Prongs said.

**It is possible, say top experts at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, that Potters brain was affected by the attack inflicted upon her by You- Know-Who, and that her insistence that the scar is still hurting is an expression of her deep-seated confusion.**

**"She might even be pretending," said one specialist. "This could be a plea for attention."**

"I don't want the attention, I hate it. So why would I try this to get more?" Cris asked.

"Very true," everybody said.

**The Daily Prophet, however, has unearthed worrying facts about Cristal Potter that Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, has carefully concealed from the wizarding public.**

**"Potter can speak Parseltongue," reveals Draco Malfoy, **

**a Hogwarts fourth year. "There were a lot of attacks on students a couple of years ago, and most people thought Potter was behind them after they saw her lose her temper at a dueling club and set a snake on another boy. It was all hushed up, though. But she's made friends with werewolves and giants too. We think she'd do anything for a bit of power."**

**Parseltongue, the ability to converse with snakes, has long been considered a Dark Art.**

"No, just the users, Cris would never do that." Remus said.

"Thanks Uncle Remy." Cris said quietly.

**Indeed, the most famous Parselmouth of our times is none other than You-Know-Who himself. A member of the Dark Force Defense League, who wished to remain unnamed, stated that he would regard any wizard who could speak Parseltongue "as worthy of investigation. Personally, I would be highly suspicious of anybody who could converse with snakes, as serpents are often used in the worst kinds of Dark Magic, and are historically associated with evildoers." Similarly, "anyone who seeks out the company of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence."**

**Albus Dumbledore should surely consider whether a girl such as this should be allowed to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. Some fear that Potter might resort to the Dark Arts in her desperation to win the tournament, the third task of which takes place this evening.**

"Good grief, she didn't even want to be in the tournament." Sirius snarled. Cris smiled gratefully at her godfather but turned to hide her face in George's shoulder.

**"Gone off me a bit, hasn't she?" said Cris lightly, folding up the paper.**

**Over at the Slytherin table, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were laughing at her, tapping their heads with their fingers, pulling grotesquely mad faces, and waggling their tongues like snakes.**

"Really mature," Bill said glaring at the blonde Slytherin.

"I know, it was really immature of me to do." Draco said. He turned to Cris, "I'm sorry about that." Cris looked over at him and nodded.

**"How did she know your scar hurt in Divination?" Ron said. "There's no way she was there, there's no way she could've heard -"**

**"The window was open," said Cris. "I opened it to breathe. But there's no way she could have heard or seen me."**

"Exactly, so how in the world did she know that?" Ginny asked.

"Unless she is an animagus, but what can she turn into?" Padfoot asked.

"Some sort of bug, I think." Moony said looking thoughtful.

**"You were at the top of North Tower!" Hermione said. "Your voice couldn't have carried all the way down to the grounds!"**

**"Well, you're the one who's supposed to be researching magical methods of bugging!" said Cris. "You tell me how she did it!"**

**"I've been trying!" said Hermione. "But I… but…"**

**An odd, dreamy expression suddenly came over Hermione's face. She slowly raised a hand and ran her fingers through her hair.**

"You've figured it out." Remus said.

"Yeah, she did." Ron and Cris said.

**"Are you all right?" said Ron, frowning at her.**

**"Yes," said Hermione breathlessly. She ran her fingers through her hair again, and then held her hand up to her mouth, as though speaking into an invisible walkie-talkie. Cris and Ron stared at each other.**

**"I've had an idea," Hermione said, gazing into space. "I think I know… because then no one would be able to see… even Moody… and she'd have been able to get onto the window ledge… but she's not allowed… she's definitely not allowed… I think we've got her! Just give me two seconds in the library - just to make sure!"**

**With that, Hermione seized her school bag and dashed out of the Great Hall.**

"Hermione moment, again." Ginny said with a laugh.

"She can be even worse than Moony." Padfoot said with a laugh.

"Well every group needs their book worm." Cris said with a smile.

"That's true,"

**"Oy!" Ron called after her. "We've got our History of Magic exam in ten minutes! Blimey," he said, turning back to Cris, "she must really hate that Skeeter woman to risk missing the start of an exam. What're you going to do in Binns' class – read again?"**

**Exempt from the end-of-term tests as a Triwizard champion, Cris had been sitting in the back of every exam class so far, looking up fresh hexes for the third task.**

**"S'pose so," Cris said to Ron; but just then. Professor McGonagall came walking alongside the Gryffindor table toward her.**

**"Potter, the champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall after breakfast," she said.**

**"But the task's not till tonight!" said Cris, accidentally spilling scrambled eggs down her front, afraid she had mistaken the time.**

**"I'm aware of that, Potter," she said. "The champions' families are invited to watch the final task, you know. This is simply a chance for you to greet them." She moved away. Cris gaped after her.**

"Well yeah, the Dursley's wouldn't come even if their lives depended on it." Padfoot said.

"So who came, Sirius can't go and I don't know about Remus or Robin." Lily said.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**"She doesn't expect the Dursley's to turn up, does she?" she asked Ron blankly.**

**"Dunno," said Ron. "Cris, I'd better hurry, I'm going to be late for Binns. See you later."**

"Binns probably wouldn't even notice." Prongs said.

"That's probably true." Cris said.

**Cris finished her breakfast in the emptying Great Hall. She saw Fleur Delacour get up from the Ravenclaw table and join Cedric as he crossed to the side chamber and entered. Krum slouched off to join them shortly afterward. Cris stayed where she was. She really didn't want to go into the chamber. She had no family - no family who would turn up to see her risk her life, anyway. **

**But just as she was getting up, thinking that she might as well go up to the library and do a spot more hex research, the door of the side chamber opened, and Cedric stuck his head out.**

**"Cris, come on, they're waiting for you!"**

"Who showed up?" Padfoot asked. Cris smiled but didn't say anything else.

**Utterly perplexed Cris got up. The Dursley's couldn't possibly be here, could they? She walked across the Hall and opened the door into the chamber. Cedric and his parents were just inside the door. Viktor Krum was over in a corner, conversing with his dark-haired mother and father in rapid Bulgarian. He had inherited his fathers hooked nose. On the other side of the room, Fleur was jabbering away in French to her mother. Fleur's little sister, Gabrielle, was holding her mother's hand. She waved at Cris, who waved back, grinning. **

**Then she saw Mrs. Weasley and Bill standing in front of the fireplace, beaming at her.**

"Thank you," Lily said getting up to hug Mrs. Weasley and Bill.

"Why wouldn't we? Cris is part of our family, even more so in the future apparently." Mrs. Weasley said smiling at Cris and the twins.

**"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as she smiled broadly and walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you. Cris!" She bent down and kissed her on the cheek.**

**"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Cris and shaking her hand. "Charlie wanted to come, but he couldn't get time off. He said you were incredible against the Horntail."**

**Fleur Delacour, Cris noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her mother's shoulder. Cris could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them.**

"That's why I love her." Bill said kissing Fleur. Fleur blushed greatly but kissed him back nonetheless.

**"This is really nice of you," Cris muttered to Mrs. Weasley. "I thought for a moment - the Dursley's -"**

**"Hmm," said Mrs. Weasley, pursing her lips. She had always refrained from criticizing the Dursley's in front of Cris, but her eyes flashed every time they were mentioned.**

**"It's great being back here," said Bill, looking around the chamber (Violet, the Fat Lady's friend, winked at him from her frame). "Haven't seen this place for five years. Is that picture of the mad knight still around? Sir Cadogan?"**

**"Oh yeah," said Cris, who had met Sir Cadogan the previous year.**

**"And the Fat Lady?" said Bill.**

**"She was here in my time," said Mrs. Weasley. "She gave me such a telling off one night when I got back to the dormitory at four in the morning -"**

"Mum!" cried their children.

"And she is always on us about breaking the rules." Fred muttered to George. George nodded his head and Victoire continued reading.

**"What were you doing out of your dormitory at four in the morning?" said Bill, surveying his mother with amazement.**

**Mrs. Weasley grinned, her eyes twinkling.**

**"Your father and I had been for a nighttime stroll," she said. "He got caught by Apollyon Pringle - he was the caretaker in those days - your father's still got the marks."**

Mr. Weasley rubbed a spot on his thigh.

**"Fancy giving us a tour, Cris?" said Bill.**

**"Yeah, okay," said Cris, and they made their way back toward the door into the Great Hall. As they passed Amos Diggory, he looked around.**

**"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Cris up and down.**

**"Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's caught you up on points, are you?" **

"Why is he acting like that?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"He's pissed because I haven't been able to correct Skeeter at all with the whole champion thing." Cris said.

"That's not right." Lily said.

**"What?" said Cris.**

**"Ignore him," said Cedric in a low voice to Cris, frowning after his father. "He's been angry ever since Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament – you know, when she made out you were the only Hogwarts champion."**

**"Didn't bother to correct her, though, did she?" said Amos Diggory, loudly enough for Cris to hear as she started to walk out of the door with Mrs. Weasley and Bill. "Still… you'll show her, Ced. Beaten her once before, haven't you?"**

"That was an accident; he didn't see her falling until after he caught the snitch." Bill said.

"Don't worry about it Bill." Cris said.

**"Rita Skeeter goes out of her way to cause trouble, Amos!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily. "I would have thought you'd know that, working at the Ministry!"**

**Mr. Diggory looked as though he was going to say something angry, but his wife laid a hand on his arm, and he merely shrugged and turned away.**

**Cris had a very enjoyable morning walking over the sunny grounds with Bill and Mrs. Weasley, showing them the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship. Mrs. Weasley was intrigued by the Whomping Willow, which had been planted after she had left school, **

"It was because I came." Remus said.

"So that's why it's there." Lily said.

"Yep," Moony said.

**and reminisced at length about the gamekeeper before Hagrid, a man called Ogg.**

"Where was Hagrid then?" Charlie asked.

"He was still the assistant then." Mrs. Weasley said.

**"How's Percy?" Cris asked as they walked around the greenhouses.**

**"Not good," said Bill.**

"What did the prat do this time?" Sirius snarled glaring at the traitor.

**"He's very upset," said Mrs. Weasley, lowering her voice and glancing around. "The Ministry wants to keep Mr. Crouch's disappearance quiet, but Percy's been hauled in for questioning about the instructions Mr. Crouch has been sending in. They seem to think there's a chance they weren't genuinely written by him. Percy's been under a lot of strain. They're not letting him fill in for Mr. Crouch as the fifth judge tonight. Cornelius Fudge is going to be doing it."**

"Great," Remus said under his breath.

**They returned to the castle for lunch.**

**"Mum - Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"**

**"Come to watch Cris in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. **

"But you're cooking is the best." Ron said.

"I agree," Cris said with a smile. Mrs. Weasley sent Cris a smile and Victoire continued reading.

**How was your exam?"**

**"Oh… okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. **

"Ron, don't say that in front of mum." Charlie groaned.

"I know," Ron said blushing slightly.

**It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish pasty, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the Unclean; it wasn't hard."**

"I doubt Binns would notice though." Sirius said.

"Not likely." Robin said.

**Fred, George, and Ginny came to sit next to them too, and Cris was having such a good time she felt almost as though she were back at the Burrow; she had forgotten to worry about that evening's task, and not until Hermione turned up, halfway through lunch, did she remember that she had had a brainwave about Rita Skeeter.**

**"Are you going to tell us -?"**

**Hermione shook her head warningly and glanced at Mrs. Weasley.**

**"Hello, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, much more stiffly than usual.**

"I'm sorry dear," Mrs. Weasley said. Hermione waved it off with a smile.

**"Hello," said Hermione, her smile faltering at the cold expression on Mrs. Weasley's face.**

**Cris looked between them, then said, "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote in Witch Weekly, did you? Because Hermione's not Ron's girlfriend or anyone's yet."**

**"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley "No - of course I didn't!"**

**But she became considerably warmer toward Hermione after that.**

"Thanks for that by the way." Hermione said. Cris smiled and nodded and Victoire continued reading.

**Cris, Bill, and Mrs. Weasley whiled away the afternoon with a long walk around the castle, and then returned to the Great Hall for the evening feast. Ludo Bagman and Cornelius Fudge had joined the staff table now. Bagman looked quite cheerful, but Cornelius Fudge, who was sitting next to Madame Maxime, looked stern and was not talking. Madame Maxime was concentrating on her plate, and Cris thought her eyes looked red. Hagrid kept glancing along the table at her.**

"Hagrid just needs to apologize to her." Charlie said with a smile.

**There were more courses than usual, but Cris, who was starting to feel really nervous now, didn't eat much. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to fade from blue to a dusky purple, Dumbledore rose to his feet at the staff table, and silence fell.**

**"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now."**

Cris couldn't help but not look at anyone; she contemplated leaving now but couldn't bring herself to do it. So she kept her face hidden in George's chest as Fred rubbed circles on her back.

**Cris got up. The Gryffindors all along the table were applauding her; the Weasleys and Hermione all wished her good luck, and she headed off out of the Great Hall with Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor.**

**"Feeling all right, Cris?" Bagman asked as they went down the stone steps onto the grounds. "Confident?"**

**"I'm okay," said Cris. It was sort of true; she was nervous, but she kept running over all the hexes and spells she had been practicing in her mind as they walked, and the knowledge that she could remember them all made her feel better.**

"That's a very good thing, concentrate on something you know." Robin said. Cris nodded but still kept her face hidden.

**They walked onto the Quidditch field, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.**

"I don't like mazes, never have really." Cris said.

"Why?" Sirius asked looking at his goddaughter in concern.

"When I was eight Dudley wanted to go to one of those haunted mazes for Halloween so we went. I got lost and nearly got left behind, Uncle Vernon was upset that found my way out but by the time I did I was crying. If it wasn't for this really nice guy, teenage guy with light brown hair and freckles I wouldn't have made it out." Cris said.

"That sounds like my older brother." Gwen said.

"Andy?" Cris asked.

"Yeah, he's married now and has a baby on the way." Gwen said. Cris smiled but didn't say anything else. Sirius was furious at the Dursley's but knew that he couldn't do anything to them now so he sat quietly.

**Five minutes later, the stands had begun to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.**

**"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," said Professor McGonagall to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"**

**The champions nodded.**

**"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly to the four patrollers.**

"That's a good thing to have." Sirius said.

**"Good luck. Cris," Hagrid whispered, **

"You'll need it." George whispered kissing Cris' head. She was clinging to him and Fred was rubbing her back reassuringly. They weren't sure how long she would be sitting here for.

**and the four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorus," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.**

**"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! Tied in first place, with eighty-five points each - Mr. Cedric Diggory and Miss Cristal Potter, both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"**

"Why didn't zey announce my points, I always wondered why." Fleur said.

"I don't know why either." Bill said putting his arm around her.

**Cris could just make out Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione applauding Fleur politely, halfway up the stands. She waved up at them, and they waved back, beaming at her.**

**"So… on my whistle, Cris and Cedric!" said Bagman. "Three - two - one -"**

**He gave a short blast on his whistle, and Cris and Cedric hurried forward into the maze.**

**The towering hedges cast black shadows across the path, and, whether because they were so tall and thick or because they had been enchanted, the sound of the surrounding crowd was silenced the moment they entered the maze. Cris felt almost as though she were underwater again. She pulled out her wand, muttered, "Lumos," and heard Cedric do the same just behind her.**

**After about fifty yards, they reached a fork. They looked at each other.**

**"See you," Cris said, and she took the left one, while Cedric took the right.**

Cris shuddered, that was one of the last things they said to each other.

**Cris heard Bagman's whistle for the second time. Krum had entered the maze. Cris sped up. Her chosen path seemed completely deserted. She turned right, and hurried on, holding her wand high over her head, trying to see as far ahead as possible. Still, there was nothing in sight.**

"That's not necessarily a good thing though." Lily said. She was gripping Prongs' hand as they read the third task.

**Bagman's whistle blew in the distance for the third time. All of the champions were now inside.**

**Cris kept looking behind her. The old feeling that she was being watched was upon her. **

**The maze was growing darker with every passing minute as the sky overhead deepened to navy. She reached a second fork.**

"**Point Me," she whispered to her wand, holding it flat in her palm.**

**The wand spun around once and pointed toward her right, into solid hedge. That way was north, and she knew that she needed to go northwest for the center of the maze. The best she could do was to take the left fork and go right again as soon as possible.**

**The path ahead was empty too, and when Cris reached a right turn and took it, she again found her way unblocked.**

"That doesn't sound right at all." Sirius said.

"You should have come across something by now." Remus said.

"I'm just happy that she hasn't come across anything yet." Lily said.

**Cris didn't know why, but the lack of obstacles was unnerving her. Surely she should have met something by now? It felt as though the maze were luring her into a false sense of security. Then she heard movement right behind her. She held out her wand, ready to attack, but its beam fell only upon Cedric, who had just hurried out of a path on the right-hand side.**

**Cedric looked severely shaken. The sleeve of his robe was smoking.**

**"Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts!" he hissed. "They're enormous - I only just got away!"**

"How big were they?" Remus asked.

"Big enough," Cris said.

"So did you face it?" Prongs asked.

"You'll see." Cris said.

**He shook his head and dived out of sight, along another path. Keen to put plenty of distance between himself and the skrewts, Cris hurried off again. Then, as she turned a corner, she saw… a Dementor**

"Wait, what is that doing there?" Robin asked.

"I don't think it's actually a Dementor." Remus said.

**gliding toward her. Twelve feet tall, its face hidden by its hood, its rotting, scabbed hands outstretched, it advanced, sensing its way blindly toward her. Cris could hear its rattling breath; she felt clammy coldness stealing over her, but knew what she had to do…**

**She summoned the happiest thought she could, concentrated with all her might on the thought of getting out of the maze and celebrating with Ron and Hermione, raised her wand, and cried, "Expecto Patronum!"**

**A silver stag erupted from the end of Cris' wand and galloped toward the Dementor, which fell back and tripped over the hem of its robes… Cris had never seen a Dementor stumble.**

"It's just a boggart, good." Lily said taking a sigh of relief.

"That's easy enough to get rid of." Prongs said.

**"Hang on!" she shouted, advancing in the wake of her silver Patronus, "You're a Boggart! Riddikulus!"**

**There was a loud crack, and the shape-shifter exploded in a wisp of smoke. The silver stag faded from sight. Cris wished it could have stayed, she could have used some company… but she moved on, quickly and quietly as possible, listening hard, her wand held high once more.**

**Left… right… left again… Twice she found herself facing dead ends. She did the Four-Point Spell again and found that she was going too far east. She turned back, took a right turn, and saw an odd golden mist floating ahead of her.**

**Cris approached it cautiously, pointing the wand's beam at it. This looked like some kind of enchantment. She wondered whether she might be able to blast it out of the way.**

**"Reducio!" she said.**

**The spell shot straight through the mist, leaving it intact. she supposed he should have known better; the Reductor Curse was for solid objects. What would happen if she walked through the mist? Was it worth chancing it, or should she double back?**

**She was still hesitating when a scream shattered the silence.**

"Who was it?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Fleur blushed but didn't say anything else.

**"Fleur?" Cris yelled.**

"You were okay, right?" Gwen asked. Fleur smiled and nodded.

"Cris 'elped me." Fleur said.

**There was silence. She stared all around her. What had happened to her? Her scream seemed to have come from somewhere ahead. She took a deep breath and ran through the enchanted mist.**

"That's not a smart thing to do." Charlie said.

"What was I supposed to do, leave her alone; I had no idea how much trouble she was in." Cris said.

"You are too kind for your own good sometimes." Remus said with a chuckle.

**The world turned upside down. Cris was hanging from the ground, with her hair on end, her glasses dangling off her nose, threatening to fall into the bottomless sky. She clutched them to the end of her nose and hung there, terrified. It felt as though her feet were glued to the grass, which had now become the ceiling. Below her the dark, star-spangled heavens stretched endlessly. She felt as though if she tried to move one of her feet, she would fall away from the earth completely.**

"What kind of spell is that?" Ginny asked.

"I still have no clue." Cris said.

**Think, she told herself, as all the blood rushed to her head, think…**

**But not one of the spells she had practiced had been designed to combat a sudden reversal of ground and sky. Did she dare move her foot? She could hear the blood pounding in her ears. She had two choices - try and move, or send up red sparks, and get rescued and disqualified from the task. **

"I should have sent up the sparks." Cris mumbled.

"But you're not the type of person to give up, love." Fred said.

"Don't worry Bambi, we've got you." George said. Cris nodded into his chest, she wanted this book to end already.

**She shut her eyes, so she wouldn't be able to see the view of endless space below her, and pulled her right foot as hard as she could away from the grassy ceiling.**

**Immediately, the world righted itself. Cris fell forward onto her knees onto the wonderfully solid ground. She felt temporarily limp with shock. She took a deep, steadying breath, then got up again and hurried forward, looking back over her shoulder as she ran away from the golden mist, which twinkled innocently at her in the moonlight.**

**She paused at a junction of two paths and looked around for some sign of Fleur. She was sure it had been she who had screamed. What had she met? Was she all right? There was no sign of red sparks - did that mean she had got herself out of trouble, or was she in such trouble that she couldn't reach her wand? Cris took the right fork with a feeling of increasing unease… but at the same time, she couldn't help thinking. One champion down…**

"Sorry," Cris said. Fleur just smiled at her.

"Don't worry about et Cris, et es fine." Fleur said.

**The cup was somewhere close by, and it sounded as though Fleur was no longer in the running. She'd got this far, hadn't she? What if she actually managed to win? Fleetingly, and for the first time since she'd found herself champion, she saw again that image of herself, raising the Triwizard Cup in front of the rest of the school…**

**She met nothing for ten minutes, but kept running into dead ends. Twice she took the same wrong turning. Finally, she found a new route and started to jog along it, her wand light waving, making her shadow flicker and distort on the hedge walls.**

**Then she rounded another corner and found herself facing a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Cedric was right - it was enormous. Ten feet long, it looked more like a giant scorpion than anything. **

"I hope you get past it alright." Lily said.

**Its long sting was curled over its back. Its thick armor glinted in the light from Cris' wand, which she pointed at it.**

**"Stupefy!"**

**The spell hit the skrewt's armor and rebounded; Cris ducked just in time, but could smell burning hair; it had singed the top of her head. The skrewt issued a blast of fire from its end and flew forward toward her.**

**"Impedimenta!" Cris yelled. The spell hit the skrewt's armor again and ricocheted off; Cris staggered back a few paces and fell over.**

**"IMPEDIMENTA!"**

"You need to aim for its belly!" Charlie said. Cris smiled and nodded.

**The skrewt was inches from her when it froze - she had managed to hit it on its fleshy, shell-less underside. Panting, Cris pushed herself away from it and ran, hard, in the opposite direction - the Impediment Curse was not permanent; the skrewt would be regaining the use of its legs at any moment.**

**She took a left path and hit a dead end, a right, and hit another; forcing herself to stop, heart hammering, she performed the Four-Point Spell again, backtracked, and chose a path that would take her northwest.**

**She had been hurrying along the new path for a few minutes, when she heard something in the path running parallel to her own that made her stop dead.**

**"What are you doing?" yelled Cedric's voice. "What the hell d'you think you're doing?"**

**And then Cris heard Krum's voice.**

"I don't remember this." Viktor said.

"It wasn't your fault; you were under the Imperious curse." Cris said. Viktor looked at her and the group wondered who put Viktor under it.

**"Crucio!"**

"I used that spell?" Viktor asked.

"You weren't yourself; don't beat yourself up over it." Gwen said placing a hand on his arm. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"But who told him to do that?" Prongs asked.

"Karkaroff?" Padfoot suggested.

"No, I don't think so." Remus said.

**The air was suddenly full of Cedric's yells. Horrified, Cris began sprinting up her path, trying to find a way into Cedric's. When none appeared, she tried the Reductor Curse again. It wasn't very effective, but it burned a small hole in the hedge through which Cris forced her leg, kicking at the thick brambles and branches until they broke and made an opening; she struggled through it, tearing her robes, and looking to her right, saw Cedric jerking and twitching on the ground, Krum standing over him.**

"Viktor, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." Cris said.

"It's fine, I'm glad you stopped me." Viktor said.

**Cris pulled herself up and pointed her wand at Krum just as Krum looked up. Krum turned and began to run.**

**"Stupefy!" Cris yelled.**

"At least you stopped me." Viktor said. Cris smiled reassuringly at him and went back into George's embrace with Fred's hand on her shoulder.

**The spell hit Krum in the back; he stopped dead in his tracks, fell forward, and lay motionless, face down in the grass. Cris dashed over to Cedric, who had stopped twitching and was lying there panting, his hands over his face.**

**"Are you all right?" Cris said roughly, grabbing Cedric's arm.**

**"Yeah," panted Cedric. "Yeah… I don't believe it… he crept up behind me… I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…"**

**Cedric got up. He was still shaking. He and Cris looked down at Krum.**

**"I can't believe this… I thought he was all right," Cris said, staring at Krum.**

"So 'ow did you know he was under a spell?" Fleur asked.

"It was after the task." Cris said.

**"So did I," said Cedric.**

**"Did you hear Fleur scream earlier?" said Cris.**

**"Yeah," said Cedric. "You don't think Krum got her too?"**

**"I don't know," said Cris slowly.**

**"Should we leave him here?" Cedric muttered.**

"I would, but I would also send up some sparks." Prongs said.

"That's what I did." Cris said with a smile.

**"No," said Cris. "I reckon we should send up red sparks. Someone'll come and collect him… otherwise he'll probably be eaten by a skrewt."**

"Thank you." Viktor said. Cris nodded and Victoire continued reading.

**"He'd deserve it," Cedric muttered, but all the same, he raised his wand and shot a shower of red sparks into the air, which hovered high above Krum, marking the spot where he lay.**

**Cris and Cedric stood there in the darkness for a moment, looking around them.**

**Then Cedric said, "Well… I s'pose we'd better go on…"**

**"What?" said Cris. "Oh… yeah… right…"**

**It was an odd moment. She and Cedric had been briefly united against Krum – now the fact that they were opponents came back to Cris. The two of them proceeded up the dark path without speaking, then Cris turned left, and Cedric right.**

**Cedric's footsteps soon died away.**

Cris closed her eyes, his death is close and she couldn't sit here listening to it.

**Cris moved on, continuing to use the Four-Point Spell, making sure she was moving in the right direction. It was between her and Cedric now.**

"So it'll be a Hogwarts victory either way." Lily said.

"Yeah," Hermione said.

**Her desire to reach the cup first was now burning stronger than ever, but she could hardly believe what she'd just seen Krum do. The use of an Unforgivable Curse on a fellow human being meant a life term in Azkaban, that was what Moody had told them. Krum surely couldn't have wanted the Triwizard Cup that badly… Cris sped up.**

**Every so often she hit more dead ends, but the increasing darkness made her feel sure she was getting near the heart of the maze. Then, as she strode down a long, straight path, she saw movement once again, and her beam of wand light hit an extraordinary creature, one which she had only seen in picture form, in her Monster Book of Monsters.**

**It was a sphinx.**

"Great, this could be bad if you don't get the riddle right." Moony said.

"Sphinxes do riddles?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," the group said.

**It had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Cris as she approached. She raised her wand, hesitating. She was not crouching as if to spring, but pacing from side to side of the path, blocking her progress. Then she spoke, in a deep, hoarse voice.**

**"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."**

**"So… so will you move, please?" said Cris, knowing what the answer was going to be.**

"If you knew why did you ask?" Remus asked.

"Just to see if what it said in the text was right." Cris said.

"Smart girlie, always question what you read." Mad-Eye said.

**"No," she said, continuing to pace. "Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess - I let you pass. Answer wrongly - I attack. Remain silent – I will let you walk away from me unscathed."**

"So if she figures it out she wins right?" Gwen asked.

"Depends," Remus said.

"Depends on what?" she asked.

"If Cedric got there first." Sirius said. Gwen nodded and Victoire continued reading.

**Cris' stomach slipped several notches. It was Hermione who was good at this sort of thing, not her. She weighed her chances. If the riddle was too hard, she could keep silent, get away from the sphinx unharmed, and try and find an alternative route to the center.**

**"Okay," she said. "Can I hear the riddle?"**

**The sphinx sat down upon her hind legs, in the very middle of the path, and recited:**

**"First think of the person who lives in disguise,**

**Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.**

**Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,**

**The middle of middle and end of the end?**

**And finally give me the sound often heard**

**During the search for a hard-to-find word.**

**Now string them together, and answer me this,**

**Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"**

"I have no clue," Padfoot said.

"I think I know," Lily said.

"But can Cris figure it out?" Prongs asked.

"I think she can." Hermione said with a smile. Cris gave her a small smile but didn't say anything.

**Cris gaped at her.**

**"Could I have it again… more slowly?" she asked tentatively. She blinked at her, smiled, and repeated the poem. "All the clues add up to a creature I wouldn't want to kiss?" Cris asked.**

**She merely smiled her mysterious smile. **

**Cris took that for a "yes." **

"Not the best idea, but in this situation it will be okay." Remus said. Though he was growing nervous he could tell that Cris was shaking, whatever happened in that graveyard she didn't want to relive.

**Cris cast her mind around. There were plenty of animals she wouldn't want to kiss; her immediate thought was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, but something told her that wasn't the answer. She'd have to try and work out the clues…**

**"A person in disguise," Cris muttered, staring at her, "who lies… er… that'd be a - an impostor. No, that's not my guess! A - a spy? I'll come back to that… could you give me the next clue again, please?"**

**She repeated the next lines of the poem.**

**"'The last thing to mend,'" Cris repeated. "Er… no idea… 'middle of middle'… could I have the last bit again?"**

**She gave her the last four lines.**

**"'The sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word,'" said Cris. "Er… that'd be… er… hang on - 'er'! Er's a sound!"**

**The sphinx smiled at her.**

**"Spy… er… spy… er…" said Cris, pacing up and down. "A creature I wouldn't want to kiss… a spider!"**

**The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for her to pass.**

**"Thanks!" said Cris, and, amazed at her own brilliance, she dashed forward.**

"A wouldn't want to kiss a spider either." Ron said with a shiver. He cast a glance at Cris, worried about what she left out at the graveyard.

**She had to be close now, she had to be… Her wand was telling her she was bang on course; as long as she didn't meet anything too horrible, she might have a chance…**

**Cris broke into a run. She had a choice of paths up ahead. "Point Me!" she whispered again to her wand, and it spun around and pointed her to the right-hand one. She dashed up this one and saw light ahead.**

**The Triwizard Cup was gleaming on a plinth a hundred yards away. Suddenly a dark figure hurtled out onto the path in front of her.**

**Cedric was going to get there first. Cedric was sprinting as fast as he could toward the cup, and Cris knew she would never catch up, Cedric was much taller, had much longer legs -**

**Then Cris saw something immense over a hedge to her left, moving quickly along a path that intersected with her own; it was moving so fast Cedric was about to run into it, and Cedric, his eyes on the cup, had not seen it –**

**"Cedric!" Cris bellowed. "On your left!"**

"At least you warned him." Lily said. People were on the edge of their seats, they were so close now but didn't know if they wanted to know what she had to face.

**Cedric looked around just in time to hurl himself past the thing and avoid colliding with it, but in his haste, he tripped. Cris saw Cedric's wand fly out of his hand as a gigantic spider stepped into the path and began to bear down upon Cedric.**

**"Stupefy!" Cris yelled; the spell hit the spider's gigantic, hairy black body, but for all the good it did, she might as well have thrown a stone at it; the spider jerked, scuttled around, and ran at Cris instead.**

**"Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!"**

"That isn't a normal spider, is it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think so." Charlie said.

"Vic please read." Cris said. Victoire nodded knowing her aunt wanted to leave the room for the next part.

**But it was no use - the spider was either so large, or so magical, that the spells were doing no more than aggravating it. Cris had one horrifying glimpse of eight shining black eyes and razor-sharp pincers before it was upon her.**

**She was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, she tried to kick it; her leg connected with the pincers and next moment she was in excruciating pain. **

"If it's an Acromantula than their venom can be very dangerous." Charlie said.

"I don't think it was that bad." Cris muttered.

**She could hear Cedric yelling "Stupefy!" too, but his spell had no more effect than Cris' - Cris raised her wand as the spider opened its pincers once more and shouted "Expelliarmus!"**

**It worked - the Disarming Spell made the spider drop her, but that meant that Cris fell twelve feet onto her already injured leg, which crumpled beneath her. **

"This is bad," Lily said gripping Prongs' hand tighter.

**Without pausing to think, she aimed high at the spider's underbelly, as she had done with the skrewt, and shouted "Stupefy!'' just as Cedric yelled the same thing.**

"That should do it." Charlie said. Cris nodded but was still silent.

**The two spells combined did what one alone had not:**

"Good," the women said. Though the group was still on the edge of their seats.

**The spider keeled over sideways, flattening a nearby hedge, and strewing the path with a tangle of hairy legs.**

**"Cris!" she heard Cedric shouting. "You all right? Did it fall on you?"**

**"No," Cris called back, panting. She looked down at his leg. It was bleeding freely. She could see some sort of thick, gluey secretion from the spider's pincers on her torn robes. **

"You need to see Pomfrey very soon." Charlie said. Lily moaned and Prongs wrapped his armed around and she leaned into him.

**She tried to get up, but her leg was shaking badly and did not want to support her weight. she leaned against the hedge, gasping for breath, and looked around.**

**Cedric was standing feet from the Triwizard Cup, which was gleaming behind him.**

**"Take it, then," Cris panted to Cedric. "Go on, take it. You're there."**

**But Cedric didn't move. He merely stood there, looking at Cris. Then he turned to stare at the cup. Cris saw the longing expression on his face in its golden light. Cedric looked around at Cris again, who was now holding onto the hedge to support herself. Cedric took a deep breath.**

**"You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck in here."**

"That's true," Padfoot said. Cris started to cry slightly, if only she hadn't suggested they take it together he would still be alive and Cho wouldn't hate her.

"Shh, it's alright Bambi." George whispered.

"It'll be okay," Fred whispered. Fred nodded at Victoire and she continued reading.

**"That's not how it's supposed to work," Cris said. She felt angry; her leg was very painful, she was aching all over from trying to throw off the spider, and after all her efforts, Cedric had beaten her to it. "The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg."**

**Cedric took a few paces nearer to the Stunned spider, away from the cup, shaking his head.**

**"No," he said.**

**"Stop being noble," said Cris irritably. **

"Cris, that's you you're talking about." Ron said trying to lift her spirits. Cris laughed lightly but didn't move from her spot.

**"Just take it, then we can get out of here."**

**Cedric watched Cris steadying herself, holding tight to the hedge.**

**"You told me about the dragons," Cedric said. "I would've gone down in the first task if you hadn't told me what was coming."**

**"I had help on that too," Cris snapped, trying to mop up her bloody leg with her robes. "You helped me with the egg - we're square."**

**"I had help on the egg in the first place," said Cedric.**

"I wonder who helped him." Gwen said.

**"We're still square," said Cris, testing her leg gingerly; it shook violently as she put weight on it; she had sprained her ankle when the spider had dropped her.**

**"You should've got more points on the second task," said Cedric mulishly. "You stayed behind to get all the hostages. I should've done that."**

**"I was the only one who was thick enough to take that song seriously!" said Cris bitterly. "Just take the cup!"**

**"No," said Cedric.**

**He stepped over the spider's tangled legs to join Cris, who stared at him. Cedric was serious. He was walking away from the sort of glory Hufflepuff House hadn't had in centuries.**

"That's Hufflepuffs for you though." Tonks said.

**"Go on," Cedric said. He looked as though this was costing him every ounce of resolution he had, but his face was set, his arms were folded, he seemed decided.**

**Cris looked from Cedric to the cup. For one shining moment, she saw herself emerging from the maze, holding it. She saw herself holding the Triwizard Cup aloft, heard the roar of the crowd, and then the picture faded, and she found herself staring at Cedric's shadowy, stubborn face.**

**"Both of us," Cris said.**

"I shouldn't have said that." Cris said. George and Fred kissed her head and held her tighter.

"That's a good solution." Lily said.

**"What?"**

**"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."**

**Cedric stared at Cris. He unfolded his arms.**

**"You - you sure?"**

**"Yeah," said Cris. "Yeah… we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."**

Cris started shaking even more at that, she was about to bolt, she can't sit here listening to this part.

**For a moment, Cedric looked as though he couldn't believe his ears; then his face split in a grin.**

**"You're on," he said. "Come here."**

**He grabbed Cris' arm below the shoulder and helped Cris limp toward the plinth where the cup stood. When they had reached it, they both held a hand out over one of the cup's gleaming handles.**

**"On three, right?" said Cris. "One - two - three -"**

**She and Cedric both grasped a handle.**

**Instantly, Cris felt a jerk somewhere behind her navel.**

"It's a portkey!" Lily shouted.

"It wasn't supposed to be a portkey." Fudge said his eyes wide. Umbridge sat quietly, was it possible that the Potter girl was telling the truth?

**She feet had left the ground. She could not unclench the hand holding the Triwizard Cup; it was pulling her onward in a howl of wind and swirling color, Cedric at her side.**

"That's the chapter." Victoire said. She handed the book to her grandmother. But before Mrs. Weasley could continue Cris stood up.

"I'm sorry; I can't stay here for this." Cris said going over to the room she and the twins created.

"Should we continue without her?" Lily asked looking at the closed door.

"She doesn't want to relive this Lils, it's still too fresh in her mind, I don't blame her, I don't want to stay for this either but I'm going to." Sirius said.

"It was bad, wasn't?" Prongs asked.

"Very bad," Sirius said.

"Alright, I'm starting the chapter." Mrs. Weasley said.


	37. Chapter 32: Flesh, Blood and Bone

"**Chapter 32: Flesh, Blood and Bone," **Mrs. Weasley said.

"That's doesn't good at all." Padfoot said.

"No kidding," Sirius said. He really wasn't looking forward to hearing these last few chapters.

**Cris felt her feet slam into the ground; her injured leg gave way, and she fell forward; her hand let go of the Triwizard Cup at last. She raised her head.**

**"Where are we?" she said.**

**Cedric shook his head. He got up, pulled Cris to her feet, and they looked around. They had left the Hogwarts grounds completely; they had obviously traveled miles - perhaps hundreds of miles - for even the mountains surrounding the castle were gone. They were standing instead in a dark and overgrown graveyard; the black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to their right. A hill rose above them to their left. Cris could just make out the outline of a fine old house on the hillside.**

"They are nowhere near Hogwarts." Padfoot said.

"They need to get back, and quickly." Moony said.

**Cedric looked down at the Triwizard Cup and then up at Cris.**

**"Did anyone tell you the cup was a Portkey?" he asked.**

**"Nope," said Cris. She was looking around the graveyard. It was completely silent and slightly eerie. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"**

"I don't think it is." Remus said.

"They need to get out of there." Moony repeated, a bad feeling was forming in his gut.

**"I dunno," said Cedric. He sounded slightly nervous. "Wands out, d'you reckon?"**

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, you don't know what's hiding in that graveyard." Prongs said.

**"Yeah," said Cris, glad that Cedric had made the suggestion rather than her.**

**They pulled out their wands. Cris kept looking around her. She had, yet again, the strange feeling that they were being watched.**

**"Someone's coming," she said suddenly.**

"Just get out of there." Lily pleaded.

**Squinting tensely through the darkness, they watched the figure drawing nearer, walking steadily toward them between the graves. Cris couldn't make out a face, but from the way it was walking and holding its arms, she could tell that it was carrying something. Whoever it was, he was short, and wearing a hooded cloak pulled up over his head to obscure his face. And - several paces nearer, the gap between them closing all the time - Cris saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby… or was it merely a bundle of robes?**

"That doesn't sound good at all." Charlie mumbled.

**Cris lowered her wand slightly and glanced sideways at Cedric. Cedric shot her a quizzical look. They both turned back to watch the approaching figure. It stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them. For a second Cris and Cedric and the short figure simply looked at one another.**

**And then, without warning, Cris' scar exploded with pain. It was agony such as she had never felt in all her life; her wand slipped from her fingers as she put her hands over her face; her knees buckled; she was on the ground and she could see nothing at all; her head was about to split open.**

"It's him," Lily murmured.

"He planned it," Prongs said. Mrs. Weasley continued to read worry filling the pit of her stomach.

**From far away, above her head, she heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare."**

"Oh god, he was murdered." Fudge said his eyes wide. He couldn't believe that he was an idiot.

**A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night:**

Mrs. Weasley's eyes went wide and took a deep breath.

**"Avada Kedavra!"**

"No!" cried the room.

"He didn't deserve it." Lily cried into Prong's chest. George wiped his face, he wasn't ready to what happened next.

**A blast of green light blazed through Cris' eyelids, and she heard something heavy fall to the ground beside her; the pain in her scar reached such a pitch that she retched, and then it diminished; terrified of what he was about to see, she opened her stinging eyes.**

**Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside her. He was dead.**

Everyone took a moment to bow their heads in respect, nobody deserved to die like that. Mrs. Weasley then continued to read, apprehension evident in her voice.

**For a second that contained an eternity, Cris stared into Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. And then, before Cris' mind had accepted what she was seeing, before she could feel anything but numb disbelief, she felt herself being pulled to her feet.**

**The short man in the cloak had put down his bundle, lit his wand, and was dragging Cris toward the marble headstone. Cris saw the name upon it flickering in the wand light before she was forced around and slammed against it.**

**TOM RIDDLE**

"That must be where Voldemort's father is buried." Bill said.

"His father?" Fudge asked.

"Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, Voldemort is just an anagram." Charlie said. Fudge and Umbridge nodded disbelief etched in their faces and Mrs. Weasley continued reading.

**The cloaked man was now conjuring tight cords around Cris, tying her from neck to ankles to the headstone.**

Growls were heard around the room.

**Cris could hear shallow, fast breathing from the depths of the hood; she struggled, and the man hit her - hit her with a hand that had a finger missing. And Cris realized who was under the hood. It was Wormtail.**

"That bastard!" Padfoot exclaimed.

"When we get back to our own time I'll kill him." Prongs said.

"Not now James, can we please just get through this?" Lily asked. Prongs nodded and Mrs. Weasley continued to read, her face pale.

**"You!" she gasped.**

**But Wormtail, who had finished conjuring the ropes, did not reply; he was busy checking the tightness of the cords, his fingers trembling uncontrollably, rumbling over the knots. Once sure that Cris was bound so tightly to the headstone that she couldn't move an inch, Wormtail drew a length of some black material from the inside of his cloak and stuffed it roughly into Cris' mouth; then, without a word, he turned from Cris and hurried away. Cris couldn't make a sound, nor could she see where Wormtail had gone; she couldn't turn her head to see beyond the headstone; she could see only what was right in front of her.**

**Cedric's body was lying some twenty feet away. Some way beyond her, glinting in the starlight, lay the Triwizard Cup. Cris' wand was on the ground at Cedric's feet. The bundle of robes that Cris had thought was a baby was close by, at the foot of the grave. It seemed to be stirring fretfully. Cris watched it, and her scar seared with pain again… and she suddenly knew that she didn't want to see what was in those robes… she didn't want that bundle opened…**

"It's Voldemort, isn't?" Padfoot asked with a pale face. When he didn't get an answer Mrs. Weasley continued to read.

**She could hear noises at her feet. She looked down and saw a gigantic snake slithering through the grass, circling the headstone where she was tied. Wormtail's fast, wheezy breathing was growing louder again. It sounded as though he was forcing something heavy across the ground. Then he came back within Cris' range of vision, and Cris saw him pushing a stone cauldron to the foot of the grave. It was full of what seemed to be water -**

"Not that potion." Padfoot said quietly.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"A very dark potion, I only know that because my mother made me read this book with it in it." Padfoot said. Lily nodded her pale face growing paler if that was possible.

**Cris could hear it slopping around - and it was larger than any cauldron Cris had ever used; a great stone belly large enough for a full-grown man to sit in.**

**The thing inside the bundle of robes on the ground was stirring more persistently, as though it was trying to free itself. Now Wormtail was busying himself at the bottom of the cauldron with a wand. Suddenly there were crackling names beneath it. The large snake slithered away into the darkness. The liquid in the cauldron seemed to heat very fast. The surface began not only to bubble, but to send out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Wormtail tending the fire. The movements beneath the robes became more agitated. And Cris heard the high, cold voice again.**

**"Hurry!"**

"I hope he makes a mistake." Gwen said.

"It won't happen, out of all the classes in school potions was the one that Peter didn't need any help with." Robin said.

"Great," Gwen said.

**The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now. It might have been encrusted with diamonds.**

**"It is ready Master."**

**"Now…" said the cold voice.**

**Wormtail pulled open the robes on the ground, revealing what was inside them, and Cris let out a yell that was strangled in the wad of material blocking her mouth. **

**It was as though Wormtail had flipped over a stone and revealed something ugly, slimy, and blind - but worse, a hundred times worse. The thing Wormtail had been carrying had the shape of a crouched human child, except that Cris had never seen anything less like a child. It was hairless and scaly-looking, a dark, raw, reddish black. Its arms and legs were thin and feeble, and its face - no child alive ever had a face like that - flat and snakelike, with gleaming red eyes.**

"That's just sick," Gwen muttered.

**The thing seemed almost helpless; it raised its thin arms, put them around Wormtail's neck, and Wormtail lifted it. As he did so, his hood fell back, and Cris saw the look of revulsion on Wormtail's weak, pale face in the firelight as he carried the creature to the rim of the cauldron. For one moment, Cris saw the evil, flat face illuminated in the sparks dancing on the surface of the potion. And then Wormtail lowered the creature into the cauldron; there was a hiss, and it vanished below the surface; Cris heard its frail body hit the bottom with a soft thud.**

**Let it drown, Cris thought, her scar burning almost past endurance, please… let it drown…**

"I wish that was possible," Padfoot muttered.

**Wormtail was speaking. His voice shook; he seemed frightened beyond his wits. He raised his wand, closed his eyes, and spoke to the night.**

**"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"**

**The surface of the grave at Cris' feet cracked. Horrified, Cris watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air at Wormtail's command and fell softly into the cauldron. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed; it sent sparks in all directions and turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.**

**And now Wormtail was whimpering. He pulled a long, thin, shining silver dagger from inside his cloak. His voice broke into petrified sobs.**

**"Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master."**

**He stretched his right hand out in front of him - the hand with the missing finger. He gripped the dagger very tightly in his left hand and swung it upward.**

"He's going to cut off his hand." Lily said.

"No more than the bastard deserves." Prongs said.

**Cris realized what Wormtail was about to do a second before it happened – she closed her eyes as tightly as she could, but she could not block the scream that pierced the night, that went through Cris as though she had been stabbed with the dagger too. She heard something fall to the ground, heard Wormtail's anguished panting, then a sickening splash, as something was dropped into the cauldron.**

**Cris couldn't stand to look… but the potion had turned a burning red; the light of it shone through Cris' closed eyelids…**

**Wormtail was gasping and moaning with agony. Not until Cris felt Wormtail's anguished breath on her face did she realize that Wormtail was right in front of her.**

**"B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe."**

"He didn't!" Prongs shouted.

"Cris has the scar," Fred said. Lily whimpered and buried her face against Prongs as he held her to him like a life line.

**Cris could do nothing to prevent it, she was tied too tightly… Squinting down, struggling hopelessly at the ropes binding her, she saw the shining silver dagger shaking in Wormtail's remaining hand. She felt its point penetrate the crook of her right arm and blood seeping down the sleeve of her torn robes. Wormtail, still panting with pain, rumbled in his pocket for a glass vial and held it to Cris' cut, so that a dribble of blood fell into it.**

**He staggered back to the cauldron with Cris' blood. He poured it inside. The liquid within turned, instantly, a blinding white. Wormtail, his job done, dropped to his knees beside the cauldron, then slumped sideways and lay on the ground, cradling the bleeding stump of his arm, gasping and sobbing.**

"No more than he deserves," muttered the marauders.

**The cauldron was simmering, sending its diamond sparks in all directions, so blindingly bright that it turned all else to velvety blackness. Nothing happened…**

**Let it have drowned. Cris thought, let it have gone wrong…**

**And then, suddenly, the sparks emanating from the cauldron were extinguished. A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead, obliterating everything in front of Cris, so that she couldn't see Wormtail or Cedric or anything but vapor hanging in the air… It's gone wrong, she thought… it's drowned… please… please let it be dead…**

"Wishful thinking," Padfoot muttered.

**But then, through the mist in front of her, she saw, with an icy surge of terror, the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising slowly from inside the cauldron.**

"Oh god, no." Lily said.

**"Robe me," said the high, cold voice from behind the steam, and Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them one handed over his master's head.**

**The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at Cris… and Cris stared back into the face that had haunted her nightmares for three years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snakes with slits for nostrils…**

**Lord Voldemort had risen again.**

Mrs. Weasley looked up from the book. "That's the chapter."

"Let's get this over with." Sirius said. Mr. Weasley took the book from his wife and started it.


	38. Chapter 33: The Death Eaters

"**Chapter 33: The Death Eaters," **Mr. Weasley said.

"Finally, we'll see who has bribed their way out of Azkaban." Sirius said with an evil look. Fudge and Umbridge looked at each other, absolutely mortified that they were proven wrong about Voldemort being alive again.

**Voldemort looked away from Cris and began examining his own body. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cats, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness.**

"This is the time where I don't like these descriptions." Ginny said.

"And to think he was once handsome." Tonks said.

"Sad, isn't." Hermione said.

**He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Cris again, hissing. Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Cris was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying.**

"Ah, poor baby…not!" Padfoot said.

**Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Cris, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh.**

**Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them.**

**"My Lord…" he choked, "my Lord… you promised… you did promise…"**

"Voldemort doesn't keep his promises." Sirius growled.

**"Hold out your arm," said Voldemort lazily.**

**"Oh Master… thank you, Master…"**

**He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again. **

"That's not what he meant, he meant the Dark Mark." Remus said.

**"The other arm, Wormtail."**

**"Master, please… please…"**

**Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Cris saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo - a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth - the image that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping.**

**"It is back,"**

"I wonder if Peter has it now," Prongs muttered.

"You know now that you mention it, he has been wearing a lot of long sleeves shirts lately." Moony said.

**he said softly, "they will all have noticed it… and now, we shall see… now we shall know…"**

**He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm.**

**The scar on Cris' forehead seared with a sharp pain again, and Wormtail let out a fresh howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark, and Cris saw that it had turned jet black.**

"That's how they are called?" Padfoot asked. Snape nodded and clenched his hand.

**A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard.**

**"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?" he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. "And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"**

"We shall see." Padfoot said.

**He began to pace up and down before Cris and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked down at Cris again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face.**

**"You stand, Cristal Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "A Muggle and a fool… very like your dear mother.**

"Lily isn't a Muggle, she's a witch!" Robin shouted.

"And nothing your father!" snapped Prongs.

**But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child… and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death…"**

"You sick bastard." Bill said. He wanted to go and comfort his little sister but felt the need to know what happened to her.

**Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass.**

**"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was… He didn't like magic, my father…**

"Wait, so he's a half-blood?" Umbridge asked.

"Yep, scary isn't." Hermione asked glaring at the undersecretary.

**"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage… but I vowed to find him… I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name… Tom Riddle…"**

**Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave.**

**"Listen to me, reliving family history…" he said quietly, "why, I am growing quite sentimental… But look, Cris! My true family returns…"**

"They aren't family, they are your servants. There's a difference." Ginny growled.

**The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward… slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes.**

**"Master… Master" he murmured.**

"That's just sick." murmured Lily.

"That's how it is with him though." Snape said.

"Um Minister, you might want to pay attention, the names of these Death Eaters are going to be coming up." Mr. Weasley said. Fudge nodded and conjured a pad of paper and a quill himself.

**The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Cris, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people.**

"Some of them didn't show then." Sirius said.

"They are either dead, in Azkaban or are too coward to go to him." Robin said.

**Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered.**

**"Welcome, Death Eaters," said Voldemort quietly. "Thirteen years… thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?"**

**He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening.**

**"I smell guilt," he said. "There is a stench or guilt upon the air."**

**A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare to step back from him.**

**"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact - such prompt appearances! And I ask myself… why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?"**

"Because they thought you were dead, defeated by a spell that backfired." Remus said. Remus and Sirius looked up to the door that Cris disappeared through longing to go in there and comfort her.

**No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm.**

**"And I answer myself," whispered Voldemort, "they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment…**

**"And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death?**

"He didn't," Sirius muttered.

"I believe he did." Dumbledore said gravely.

"Great," Sirius said.

**They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living?**

**"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort… perhaps they now pay allegiance to another… perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"**

**At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them.**

**"It is a disappointment to me… I confess myself disappointed…"**

**One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet.**

**"Master!" he shrieked, "Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!"**

**Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand.**

Mr. Weasley took a deep breath before continuing.

**"Crucio!"**

"He doesn't know forgiveness." Ginny said.

**The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; Cris was sure the sound must carry to the houses around… Let the police come, she thought desperately… anyone… anything…**

"Oh please let someone help her." Lily sobbed. How in the world did her baby girl get through this? She thought. Prongs rubbed soothing circles on her back comforting the best he could but also wondering how Cris made it out of there alive.

**Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping.**

**"Get up, Avery," said Voldemort softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years… I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?"**

**He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob.**

**"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"**

"He deserves death for what he did." Padfoot sneered.

**"Yes, Master," moaned Wormtail, "please. Master… please…"**

**"Yet you helped return me to my body," said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. "Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me… and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers…"**

**Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake.**

Remus and Moony looked fearful for a moment but then composed himself. If Remus were to face him now it would be dangerous for him.

**Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtail's bleeding wrist.**

**Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder.**

**"My Lord," he whispered. "Master… it is beautiful… thank you… thank you…"**

**He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes. **

Everyone had a disgusted look on their faces.

**"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail," said Voldemort.**

"I think that hand will give him problems in the future." Remus said.

"It does," said the future kids.

"But we won't tell you." Keiran said.

"No fair," Padfoot said. Mr. Weasley chuckled and continued reading.

**"No, my Lord… never, my Lord…"**

**Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right.**

**"Lucius, my slippery friend," he whispered, halting before him. "I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius… Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay… but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?"**

**"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert," came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. "Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -"**

**"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?" said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. "Yes, I know all about that, Lucius… You have disappointed me… I expect more faithful service in the future."**

"Something tells me that he gets something that he doesn't like." Sirius said.

"Yeah, like a punishment maybe." Robin said.

**"Of course, my Lord, of course… You are merciful, thank you…"**

**Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space - large enough for two people - that separated Malfoy and the next man.**

**"The Lestrange's should stand here," said Voldemort quietly. **

"But they are locked away, hopefully for the rest of their lives." Neville said angrily.

"Not if the Dementors join Voldemort then they will be able to leave the prison." Dumbledore said.

**"But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me… When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestrange's will be honored beyond their dreams.**

"So he is planning a mass break out." Tonks said.

"Of course he is, the 'faithful' servants are in there." Sirius said spitting out the word faithful as he said it.

**The dementors will join us… they are our natural allies… we will recall the banished giants… I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me,**

"He contradicted himself, early he called them family now he's calling them servants." Gwen said.

"He doesn't know what family is." Ginny said.

"Sadly, that is true," Dumbledore said.

**and an army of creatures whom all fear…"**

**He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them.**

**"Macnair… destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide…"**

**"Thank you, Master… thank you," murmured Macnair.**

**"And here" - Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures - "we have Crabbe… you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?"**

Fudge was scribbling the names on the pad and Umbridge was nodding along and looked over at the two active Aurors in the room.

**They bowed clumsily, muttering dully.**

**"Yes, Master…"**

**"We will, Master…"**

**"The same goes for you, Nott," said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyle's shadow.**

**"My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful -"**

"I think he should ban that title, I don't think they are that loyal to him." Gwen said.

"True, they probably only serve out of fear." Remus said.

"That's probably true." Sirius said.

**"That will do," said Voldemort.**

**He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there.**

**"And here we have six missing Death Eaters… three dead in my service.**

"Well good riddance," Gwen said.

"My thoughts exactly," Moony said.

**One, too cowardly to return… he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever… he will be killed, of course… and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service."**

"Okay, I think the first one is Karkaroff, the other probably Snape but I don't know who the other one is." Bill said.

"Reasonable guesses." Charlie said.

**The Death Eaters stirred, and Cris saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks.**

**"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight…**

"There was a Death Eater at Hogwarts?!" Lily shrieked.

"Apparently, I wonder how long he was there for." Moony said.

"I hope they just got there and not there for the entire year." Prongs said.

**"Yes," said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Cris' direction. "Cristal Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call her my guest of honor."**

"He better not touch her!" the group snarled.

**There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice spoke from under the mask.**

**"Master, we crave to know… we beg you to tell us… how you have achieved this… this miracle… how you managed to return to us…"**

"Wouldn't we all like to know." Charlie said.

"You'll figure out in the sixth book, Uncle Charlie." Lily J said. Charlie looked at his niece who was a great combo of his little sister and her grandmother Lily and nodded.

**"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius," said Voldemort. "And it begins - and ends – with my young friend here."**

**He walked lazily over to stand next to Cris, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle.**

**"You know, of course, that they have called this girl my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Cris, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that she almost screamed in agony. "You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill her. Her mother died in the attempt to save her – and unwittingly provided her with a protection I admit I had not foreseen… I could not touch the girl."**

"You better not her now you sick bastard." Prongs snapped.

**Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Cris' cheek.**

**"Her mother left upon her the traces other sacrifice… This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it… but no matter. I can touch her now."**

**Cris felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch her, and thought her head would burst with the pain.**

"I'm going to kill him." Prongs said angrily.

"But does that mean that Cris can't go back to the Dursley's it was my protection that saved her?" Lily asked.

"No, she is still protected there from the Death Eaters at least." Dumbledore said.

"But she won't be going back there, she will be with me and my place is under the Fidelius Charm." Sirius said.

"And we want her there." Lily said glaring at the headmaster. Dumbledore nodded and Mr. Weasley continued reading.

**Voldemort laughed softly in her ear, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters.**

**"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice,**

"It wasn't foolish!" Lily snapped at the book.

"We know, without you our daughter wouldn't be alive." Prongs said kissing her head.

**and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah… pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know… I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality, you know my goal - to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it.**

**Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand…**

"Good thing too, now if only you had stayed gone." Fred said harshly. That caught everyone by surprise; they never really heard either of the twins sound harsh.

**"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist… I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited… Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me… one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body… but I waited in vain…"**

**The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing.**

**"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals - snakes, of course, being my preference - but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic… and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long…**

**"Then… four years ago… the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard - young, foolish, and gullible -**

"Quirrell," said the group.

**wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of… for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school… he was easy to bend to my will… he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Philosopher's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted… thwarted, once again, by Cristal Potter…"**

"That's my girl," Prongs said with a proud smile.

**Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Cris.**

**"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been," Voldemort continued. "I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers… Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour… I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me…"**

**One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice.**

"Lucky for them," Sirius grumbled.

**"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last… a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master.**

**He sought me in the country where it had long been rumored I was hiding… helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them…**

**"But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food… and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic**

"And we find out how she died." Bill said.

"I don't think I want to know." Robin said. She was turning green, her pregnancy not helping any at all. Sirius saw this and went into the kitchen and made her a cup of tea. When he came back he gave it to her and Mr. Weasley continued to read.

**"Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail - displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him –**

"You mean he actually thought for himself?" Padfoot asked.

"I know, it's very surprising." Robin said. She took a sip of tea and kissed Sirius' cheek, he always knew what kind she liked.

**convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her… he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams… for - with a little persuasion - she became a veritable mine of information.**

"So that's what happened to her." Fudge said under his breath.

**"She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many things… but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her."****  
****Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless.**

"That poor woman," Tonks said.

**"Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth… a spell or two of my own invention… a little help from my dear Nagini," Voldemort's red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake,**

**"a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided… I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel.****  
****"There was no hope of stealing the Philosopher's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower… I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength.**

**"I knew that to achieve this - it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight - I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant…**

**"My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe… Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me… as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Cristal Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago… for the lingering protection her mother once gave her would then reside in my veins too…**

"But how would that help?" Ginny asked.

"It explains Aunt Ginny, it's pretty complicated and I barely understood it myself." Keiran said.

"Alright," Ginny said.

**"But how to get at Cristal Potter? For she has been better protected than I think even she knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the girl's future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the girl's protection as long as she is in her relations' care. Not even I can touch her there…**

"I still don't want her there, she is obviously abused and she hates it. I'd rather her be with Sirius." Lily said.

"We will work on it." Dumbledore said. Lily nodded and Mr. Weasley continued reading.

**Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup… I thought her protection might be weaker there, away from her relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the girl would return to Hogwarts, where she is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take her?**

**"Why… by using Bertha Jorkins' information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the girl's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire.**

"So that's how it was entered." Lily said.

"But who is the Death Eater? It's not Karkaroff and I don't think it's Snape." Prongs said.

"We'll have to read and find out." Moony said.

**Use my Death Eater to ensure that the girl won the tournament - that she touched the Triwizard Cup first - the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring her here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here she is… the girl you all believed had been my downfall…"**

**Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Cris. He raised his wand.**

Mr. Weasley looked at the next word and paled drastically.

"What is it Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I don't think I can read this." Mr. Weasley said.

"Arthur, if you want, I will take it." Dumbledore said. Mr. Weasley nodded and gave it to the headmaster. Mr. Weasley put his head in hands and started to silently cried. No wonder Cris had fled the room.

**"Crucio!"**

"No!" Lily cried out. Prongs grew pale and held tighter onto the girl he loved. Everyone else was too pale to speak. Robin stood up and ran to the bathroom and threw up and Ron was comforting Hermione. Cris never told them this part and now they knew why. When Robin returned Dumbledore continued reading in a solemn voice.

**It was pain beyond anything Cris had ever experienced; her very bones were on fire; her head was surely splitting along her scar; her eyes were rolling madly in her head; she wanted it to end… to black out… to die…**

Neville had tears rolling down his face, how dare his friend, the girl he come to love as a sister be put under the same spell that caused his parents to go insane.

"We'll change this Lily-Flower, I promise, our daughter will live to feel loved and without being placed under that curse." Prongs whispered in her ear. Lily nodded though the tears were streaming down her face.

**And then it was gone. She was hanging limply in the ropes binding her to the headstone of Voldemort's father, looking up into those bright red eyes through a kind of mist. The night was ringing with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter.**

**"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this girl could ever have been stronger than me," said Voldemort. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Cristal Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing her, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help her, and no mother to die for her. I will give her her chance. She will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.**

"He was planning on feeding Cris to the snake?" Hermione asked her face green. Dumbledore nodded and quickly continued, they were almost finished with the chapter.

**"Now untie her, Wormtail, and give her back her wand."**

"And that is his worst mistake." Sirius said.

"Oh yeah, the cores of their wands come from the same phoenix." Hermione muttered.

"That's the chapter." Dumbledore and he handed it to Luna who was after Mr. Weasley.


	39. Chapter 34: Prior Incantatem

"**Chapter 34: Prior Incantatem," **Luna read.

"Isn't that the spell that tells the last spell a wand used?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, it is. But how is that going to be useful?" Lily asked.

"I guess we will have to read and find out." Moony said.

**Wormtail approached Cris, who scrambled to find her feet, to support her own weight before the ropes were untied. Wormtail raised his new silver hand, pulled out the wad of material gagging Cris, and then, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying Cris to the gravestone.**

**There was a split second, perhaps, when Cris might have considered running for it,**

"That wouldn't have been the best idea." Remus said.

"Please just let her get out of there alright." Lily murmured.

**but her injured leg shook under her as she stood on the overgrown grave, as the Death Eaters closed ranks, forming a tighter circle around her and Voldemort, so that the gaps where the missing Death Eaters should have stood were filled.**

**Wormtail walked out of the circle to the place where Cedric's body lay and returned with Cris' wand, which he thrust roughly into Cris' hand without looking at her. Then Wormtail resumed his place in the circle of watching Death Eaters.**

"He probably can't even look at you." Robin said.

"Probably, I know I had a hard time at first, I just thought it was James with longer hair." Remus said with a chuckle.

**"You have been taught how to duel Cristal Potter?" said Voldemort softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.**

**At these words Cris remembered, as though from a former life, the dueling club at Hogwarts she had attended briefly two years ago… All she had learned there was the Disarming Spell, "**_**Expelliarmus**_**"…**

"A useful spell but I don't think it will be that useful against Voldemort." Robin said.

"I don't know, we may be surprised." Remus said.

**and what use would it be to deprive Voldemort of his wand, even if she could, when she was surrounded by Death Eaters, outnumbered by at least thirty to one? She had never learned anything that could possibly fit her for this. She knew she was facing the thing against which Moody had always warned… the unblockable **_**Avada Kedavra**_** curse – and Voldemort was right - her mother was not here to die for her this time… She was quite unprotected…**

"No she isn't." Padfoot said.

"Don't even think that Cristal Rose Potter." Mrs. Weasley snapped at the book. Lily and Prongs were nodding their heads in agreement and Luna continued reading.

**"We bow to each other. Cristal," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Cris. "Come, the niceties must be observed… Dumbledore would like you to show manners… Bow to death, Cristal…"**

"Don't do it," the group said. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as Luna was reading.

**The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. Cris did not bow. She was not going to let Voldemort play with her before killing her… she was not going to give him that satisfaction…**

**"I said, **_**bow**_**," Voldemort said, raising his wand - and Cris felt her spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand were bending her ruthlessly forward, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever.**

"Those sick bastards." Draco said. He couldn't believe that his father was just standing there letting this happen.

**"Very good," said Voldemort softly, and as he raised his wand the pressure bearing down upon Cris lifted too. "And now you face me… straight-backed and proud, the way your father died…**

"I died protecting those I love, that is the way to go." Prongs said. Lily kissed his cheek though she was still really worried about her daughter.

**"And now - we duel."**

**Voldemort raised his wand, and before Cris could do anything to defend herself, before she could even move, she had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse.**

"No!" Lily moaned. The group growled once again and Neville buried his in Ginny's neck to hide the tears. Cris was put under that dreadful curse twice.

**The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that she no longer knew where she was… White-hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, her head was surely going to burst with pain, she was screaming more loudly than she'd ever screamed in her life –**

**And then it stopped. Cris rolled over and scrambled to her feet; she was shaking as uncontrollably as Wormtail had done when his hand had been cut off; she staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, and they pushed her away, back toward Voldemort.**

**"A little break," said Voldemort, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement, "a little pause… That hurt, didn't it Cristal? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"**

"Shut up!" growled the room.

**Cris didn't answer. She was going to die like Cedric, those pitiless red eyes were telling her so… she was going to die, and there was nothing she could do about it… but she wasn't going to play along. She wasn't going to obey Voldemort… she wasn't going to beg…**

**"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," said Voldemort softly.**

**"Answer me! Imperio"**

**And Cris felt, for the third time in her life, the sensation that her mind had been wiped of all thought… Ah, it was bliss, not to think, it was as though she were floating, dreaming… just answer no… say no… just answer no…**

"But she's able fight it right?" Moony asked.

"She can, but I don't think she can get past Voldemort's, he is rather powerful." Padfoot said with a worried expression.

"Don't say that." Lily said.

**I will not, said a stronger voice, in the back of his head, I won't answer… Just answer no…**

**I won't do it, I won't say it…**

**Just answer no…**

**"I WON'T!"**

"She broke it." said a very surprised Charlie.

"Don't be so surprised, I mean Cris will always surprise everyone in the end." Remus said.

"That's very true." Sirius said.

**And these words burst from Cris' mouth; they echoed through the graveyard, and the dream state was lifted as suddenly as though cold water had been thrown over her - back rushed the aches that the Cruciatus Curse had left all over her body - back rushed the realization of where she was, and what she was facing…**

**"You won't?" said Voldemort quietly, and the Death Eaters were not laughing now.**

"They're scared of her." Lily said surprised.

"It takes a lot for them to be scared too." Prongs said.

**"You won't say no? Cristal, obedience is a virtue I need to teach you before you die… Perhaps another little dose of pain?" **

"Don't you dare," snarled Prongs. He couldn't stand hearing his baby girl getting tortured and he couldn't help her because it was in her past but he can try and stop it.

**Voldemort raised his wand, but this time Cris was ready; with the reflexes born of her Quidditch training,**

"Well, there are some uses for Quidditch." Charlie said smiling at his mum. Mrs. Weasley's lips twitched but she was so worried and terrified she didn't want to say anything.

**"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Cristal,"**

"Yes you are, and Bambi is going to win." The twins said. They were so pale that their children moved over to them and they were comforting their dads.

**said Voldemort's soft, cold voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters laughed. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Cristal? Come out, Cristal… come out and play, then… it will be quick… it might even be painless… I would not know… I have never died…"**

"But we wish you had." Bill said.

**Cris crouched behind the headstone and knew the end had come. There was no hope… no help to be had. And as she heard Voldemort draw nearer still, she knew one thing only, and it was beyond fear or reason: She was not going to die crouching here like a child playing hide-and-seek; she was not going to die kneeling at Voldemort's feet… she was going to die upright like her father, and she was going to die trying to defend herself, even if no defense was possible… **

"And that's what would make her a good Auror." Tonks said.

"She is a great Auror." Keiran said.

**Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone. Cris stood up… she gripped her wand tightly in her hand, thrust it out in front of her, and threw herself around the headstone, facing Voldemort.**

**Voldemort was ready. As Cris shouted, "**_**Expelliarmus**_**!" Voldemort cried, "**_**Avada Kedavra**_**!"**

"That's an odd set of spells." Padfoot said.

"I don't care I just hope she gets out of there safely." Lily said.

**A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Cris' - they met in midair - and suddenly Cris' wand was vibrating as though an electric charge were surging through it; her hand seized up around it; she couldn't have released it if she'd wanted to - and a narrow beam of light connected the two wands, neither red nor green, but bright, deep gold.**

"What the hell?" Moony asked.

"I have no idea." Robin said.

"What's happening?" Lily asked fretfully.

"I don't know Lils," Prongs said.

**Cris, following the beam with her astonished gaze, saw that Voldemort's long white fingers too were gripping a wand that was shaking and vibrating.**

**And then - nothing could have prepared Cris for this - she felt her feet lift from the ground.**

"Professor, what's going on?" Bill asked the headmaster.

"I'm sure it'll explain in a little bit Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said. Bill nodded his head and Luna continued reading.

**She and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. They glided away from the tombstone of Voldemort's father and then came to rest on a patch of ground that was clear and free of graves… The Death Eaters were shouting; they were asking Voldemort for instructions; they were closing in, reforming the circle around Cris and Voldemort, the snake slithering at their heels, some of them drawing their wands –**

"They better not do anything." Prongs growled.

"They won't, Voldemort wants to kill Cristal himself and won't let anyone take that from him." Dumbledore said gravely.

"That's comforting," Prongs said under his breath.

**The golden thread connecting Cris and Voldemort splintered; though the wands remained connected, a thousand more beams arced high over Cris and Voldemort, crisscrossing all around them, until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters circled like jackals, their cries strangely muffled now…**

**"Do nothing!" Voldemort shrieked to the Death Eaters, and Cris saw his red eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with Cris'; Cris held onto her wand more tightly, with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. "Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted to the Death Eaters.**

**And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air… It was coming from every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Cris and Voldemort. It was a sound Cris recognized, though she had heard it only once before in her life: phoenix song.**

"The Chamber," Padfoot said.

"What Chamber?" Gwen asked.

"In Cris' second year Voldemort was possessing Ginny to attack Muggleborns by setting a Basilisk on them. Dumbledore's phoenix came to her aid when she was fighting the snake." Remus said.

"Oh," Gwen said.

**It was the sound of hope to Cris… the most beautiful and welcome thing she had ever heard in her life… She felt as though the song were inside her instead of just around her… It was the sound she connected with Dumbledore, and it was almost as though a friend were speaking in her ear…**

_**Don't break the connection.**_

**I know. Cris told the music,**

"Now she's speaking to the music?" Prongs asked.

"Cris has been in very strange situations before." Sirius said.

**I know I mustn't… but no sooner had she thought it, than the thing became much harder to do. Her wand began to vibrate more powerfully than ever… and now the beam between her and Voldemort changed too… it was as though large beads of light were sliding up and down the thread connecting the wands - Cris felt her wand give a shudder under her hand as the light beads began to slide slowly and steadily her way… The direction of the beams movement was now toward her, from Voldemort, and she felt her wand shudder angrily…**

**As the closest bead of light moved nearer to Cris' wand tip, the wood beneath her fingers grew so hot she feared it would burst into flame. The closer that bead moved, the harder Cris' wand vibrated; she was sure her wand would not survive contact with it; it felt as though it was about to shatter under her fingers –**

**She concentrated every last particle of her mind upon forcing the bead back toward Voldemort, her ears full of phoenix song, her eyes furious, fixed… and slowly, very slowly, the beads quivered to a halt, and then, just as slowly, they began to move the other way… and it was Voldemort's wand that was vibrating extra-hard now… Voldemort who looked astonished, and almost fearful…**

"I don't think I've ever seen Tom look frightened." Dumbledore said.

"Whatever is about to is going to be very interesting." Bill said. Sirius nodded, he knew what was about to happen but he didn't want to think about it.

**One of the beads of light was quivering, inches from the tip of Voldemort's wand. Cris didn't understand why she was doing it, didn't know what it might achieve… but she now concentrated as she had never done in her life on forcing that bead of light right back into Voldemort's wand… and slowly… very slowly… it moved along the golden thread… it trembled for a moment… and then it connected…**

**At once, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain… then - Voldemort's red eyes widened with shock - a dense, smoky hand flew out of the tip of it and vanished… the ghost of the hand he had made Wormtail… more shouts of pain… and then something much larger began to blossom from Voldemort's wand tip, a great, grayish something, that looked as though it were made of the solidest, densest smoke… It was a head… now a chest and arms… the torso of Cedric Diggory. **

"What's happening?" Lily asked shocked.

"It's showing the last spells Voldemort's wand preformed." Remus said.

"So it's showing the ghosts of the last people he killed?" Ginny asked.

"I think we are about to find out." Charlie said.

**If ever Cris might have released her wand from shock, it would have been then, but instinct kept her clutching her wand tightly, so that the thread of golden light remained unbroken, even though the thick gray ghost of Cedric Diggory (was it a ghost? it looked so solid) emerged in its entirety from the end of Voldemort's wand, as though it were squeezing itself out of a very narrow tunnel… and this shade of Cedric stood up, and looked up and down the golden thread of light, and spoke.**

**"Hold on. Cris," it said.**

**Its voice was distant and echoing. Cris looked at Voldemort… his wide red eyes were still shocked…**

"I don't think he was suspecting that." Bill said.

**he had no more expected this than Cris had… and, very dimly Cris heard the frightened yells of the Death Eaters, prowling around the edges of the golden dome… More screams of pain from the wand… and then something else emerged from its tip… the dense shadow of a second head, quickly followed by arms and torso… an old man Cris had seen only in a dream was now pushing himself out of the end of the wand just as Cedric had done… and his ghost, or his shadow, or whatever it was, fell next to Cedric's, and surveyed Cris and Voldemort, and the golden web, and the connected wands, with mild surprise, leaning on his walking stick…**

**"He was a real wizard, then?" the old man said, his eyes on Voldemort. "Killed me, that one did… You fight him, girl…"**

"He seems nice," Ginny said.

**But already, yet another head was emerging… and this head, gray as a smoky statue, was a woman's… Cris, both arms shaking now as she fought to keep her wand still, saw her drop to the ground and straighten up like the others, staring…**

**The shadow of Bertha Jorkins surveyed the battle before her with wide eyes.**

**"Don't let go, now!" she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric's as though from very far away. "Don't let him get you, Cristal - don't let go!"**

**She and the other two shadowy figures began to pace around the inner walls of the golden web, while the Death Eaters flitted around the outside of it… and Voldemort's dead victims whispered as they circled the duelers, whispered words of encouragement to Cris, and hissed words Cris couldn't hear to Voldemort. And now another head was emerging from the tip of Voldemort's wand… and Cris knew when she saw it who it would be… she knew, as though she had expected it from the moment when Cedric had appeared from the wand… knew, because the woman appearing was the one she'd thought of more than any other tonight…**

**The smoky shadow of a young woman with long hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at her… and Cris, her arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of her mother.**

"Lily," the group said.

"See love, you're there to protect her. Like you did before." Prongs said kissing her head.

"Of course I would be there." Lily said wiping the tears from her cheeks.

**"Your father's coming…" she said quietly. "He wants to see you… it will be all right… hold on…"**

**And he came… first his head, then his body… tall and untidy haired like Cris, the smoky, shadowy form of James Potter blossomed from the end of Voldemort's wand,**

"You're there too mate," Padfoot said placing a hand on Prongs' shoulder.

"We're both there to protect our little girl." Prongs said.

**fell to the ground, and straightened like his wife. He walked close to Cris, looking down at her, and he spoke in the same distant, echoing voice as the others, but quietly, so that Voldemort, his face now livid with fear as his victims prowled around him, could not hear…**

**"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments… but we will give you time… you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts… do you understand, Cris?" **

"At least you told her what to do." Lily whispered.

"I'm glad I knew what she had to do." Prongs said.

**"Yes," Cris gasped, fighting now to keep a hold on her wand, which was slipping and sliding beneath her fingers.**

**"Cris…" whispered the figure of Cedric, "take my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents…"**

"That must have been hard for her." Robin said.

"She wouldn't let go of his body at first." McGonagall said.

"My poor baby," Lily muttered crying again.

**"I will," said Cris, her face screwed up with the effort of holding the wand.**

**"Do it now," whispered her father's voice, "be ready to run… do it now…"**

**"NOW!" Cris yelled; she didn't think she could have held on for another moment anyway - she pulled her wand upward with an almighty wrench, and the golden thread broke; the cage of light vanished, the phoenix song died - but the shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear - they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Cris from his gaze -**

"Get out of there," Lily pleaded.

**And Cris ran as she had never run in her life, knocking two stunned Death Eaters aside as she passed; she zigzagged behind headstones, feeling their curses following her, hearing them hit the headstones - she was dodging curses and graves, pelting toward Cedric's body, no longer aware of the pain in her leg, her whole being concentrated on what she had to do -**

**"Stun her!" she heard Voldemort scream.**

"Please get out of there okay." Lily said.

"I'm sure she will," Prongs said.

**Ten feet from Cedric, Cris dived behind a marble angel to avoid the jets of red light and saw the tip of its wing shatter as the spells hit it. Gripping her wand more tightly, she dashed out from behind the angel –**

**"Impedimenta!" she bellowed, pointing her wand wildly over her shoulder at the Death Eaters running at her.**

"Please let that hit someone." Robin said.

**From a muffled yell, she thought she had stopped at least one of them, but there was no time to stop and look; she jumped over the cup and dived as she heard more wand blasts behind her; more jets of light flew over her head as she fell, stretching out her hand to grab Cedric's arm…**

**"Stand aside! I will kill her! She is mine!" shrieked Voldemort. Cris' hand had closed on Cedric's wrist; one tombstone stood between her and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry, and the cup was out of reach –**

**Voldemort's red eyes flamed in the darkness. Cris saw his mouth curl into a smile, saw him raise his wand.**

**"Accio!" Cris yelled, **

"Thank god for that spell." Lily said.

"It's a good thing she knows that." Moony said.

**pointing her wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air and soared toward her. Cris caught it by the handle –**

"Thank god," Lily said.

**She heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment that she felt the jerk behind her navel that meant the Portkey had worked - it was speeding her away in a whirl of wind and color, and Cedric along with her… They were going back.**

"That's the chapter." Luna said.

"Read!" the group yelled. Luna handed the book to Draco.

"Wait, shouldn't we get Cris back in here?" Draco asked.

"I'll go get her." Sirius said. Sirius got up to go and get Cris from the side room where she disappeared too.


	40. Chapter 35: Veritaserum

Sirius walked in the room to see Cris in a chair and playing the guitar. He couldn't help but and listen to her play. He didn't know the song but it reminded him of her.

"Cris, are you okay?" Sirius asked. Cris stopped and turned around with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, is it back to the school?" Cris asked. The guitar disappeared and she stood up. Sirius put his arm around her and kissed her head.

"Yeah pup, let's go back in. Everyone is really worried about you." Sirius said. Cris nodded and they walked back into the main room. Lily jumped up and hugged Cris tightly to her.

"Oh Crisy, it's alright now." Lily said. Cris hugged her back tightly before letting go and went back to sitting between her boys.

"Who's next?" she asked quietly. Draco picked up the book up the book and started the chapter.

"**Chapter 35: Veritaserum," **Draco read.

"Why are they going to use that?" Lily asked.

"The Death Eater at Hogwarts probably." Prongs said.

"Good, I hope they catch him." Lily said with a fury in her voice.

**Cris felt herself slam flat into the ground; her face was pressed into grass; the smell of it filled her nostrils. She had closed her eyes while the Portkey transported her, and she kept them closed now. She did not move. All the breath seemed to have been knocked out of her; her head was swimming so badly she felt as though the ground beneath her were swaying like the deck of a ship. To hold herself steady, she tightened her hold on the two things she was still clutching: the smooth, cold handle of the Triwizard Cup and Cedric's body. She felt as though she would slide away into the blackness gathering at the edges of her brain if she let go of either of them. Shock and exhaustion kept her on the ground, breathing in the smell of the grass, waiting… waiting for someone to do something… something to happen… and all the while, her scar burned dully on her forehead…**

**A torrent of sound deafened and confused her; there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams… She remained where she was, her face screwed up against the noise, as though it were a nightmare that would pass… **

"I wish it was just a dream." Cris mumbled.

"We know Bambi," the twins said.

**Then a pair of hands seized her roughly and turned her over. **

**"****Cris! Cris!" **

**She opened her eyes. **

**She was looking up at the starry sky, and Albus Dumbledore was crouched over her. The dark shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around them, pushing nearer; Cris felt the ground beneath her head reverberating with their footsteps. **

**She had come back to the edge of the maze. She could see the stands rising above her, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above. **

**Cris let go of the cup, but she clutched Cedric to her even more tightly. She raised her free hand and seized Dumbledore's wrist, while Dumbledore's face swam in and out of focus. **

**"****He's back," Cris whispered. "He's back. Voldemort."**

"At least you told him right away." Remus said.

"I couldn't not tell him." Cris said.

"True," Remus said.

**"****What's going on? What's happened?" **

**The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside down over Cris; it looked white, appalled. **

**"****My God - Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!" **

Draco couldn't help but shudder as he said it. Knowing how he died it was very horrible.

**The words were repeated, the shadowy figures pressing in on them gasped it to those around them… and then others shouted it - screeched it - into the night – **

**"****He's dead!" "He's dead!" "Cedric Diggory! Dead!" **

**"****Cris, let go of him," she heard Fudge's voice say, and she felt fingers trying to pry her from Cedric's limp body, but Cris wouldn't let him go. Then Dumbledore's face, which was still blurred and misted, came closer. **

**"****Cris, you can't help him now. It's over. Let go." **

**"****He wanted me to bring him back," Cris muttered - it seemed important to explain this. "He wanted me to bring him back to his parents…" **

"His parents were in the stands weren't they?" Lily asked.

"Yes, they were, it was absolutely horrible." Hermione said.

"I can only imagine." Robin said placing a hand on her slightly swollen stomach where Keiran was growing.

**"****That's right. Cris… just let go now…" **

**Dumbledore bent down, and with extraordinary strength for a man so old and thin, raised Cris from the ground and set her on her feet. Cris swayed. Her head was pounding. Her injured leg would no longer support her weight. The crowd around them jostled, fighting to get closer, pressing darkly in on her - "What's happened?" "What's wrong with him?" "Diggory's dead!" **

**"****She'll need to go to the hospital wing!" Fudge was saying loudly. "She's ill, she's injured – Dumbledore, Diggory's parents, they're here, they're in the stands…" **

**"****Dumbledore said stay," said Cris thickly, the pounding in her scar making her feel as though she was about to throw up; her vision was blurring worse than ever. **

"She should have gone to the hospital wing first." Sirius muttered.

"I know Siri, it's in the past. You can't do anything about it now." Robin said.

**"You need to lie down… Come on now****…"**

**Someone larger and stronger than she was half pulling, half carrying her through the frightened crowd. Cris heard people gasping, screaming, and shouting as the man supporting her pushed a path through them, taking her back to the castle. Across the lawn, past the lake and the Durmstrang ship, Cris heard nothing but the heavy breathing of the man helping him walk. **

**"****What happened Cristal?" the man asked at last as he lifted Cris up the stone steps. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. It was Mad-Eye Moody. **

"That's not like him, are you alright Moody?" Padfoot asked.

"Are you sure that is even me?" Mad-Eye asked. They gasped as realization dawned on them.

"Are you saying that the Death Eater was pretending to be you?" Lily asked. Mad-Eye didn't say anything so Draco continued reading.

**"****I'll take Cristal, Dumbledore, I'll take her -" **

**"****No, I would prefer-" **

**"****Dumbledore, Amos Diggory's running… he's coming over… Don't you think you should tell him - before he sees -?" **

**"****Cris, stay here -" **

**Girls were screaming, sobbing hysterically… The scene flickered oddly before Cris eyes… **

**"****It's all right, girl, I've got you… come on… hospital wing…" **

"Yeah, that's not Moody; he would never do that after something like that happens." Tonks said.

**"Cup was a Portkey," said Cris as they crossed the entrance hall. "Took me and Cedric to a graveyard… and Voldemort was there… Lord Voldemort…"**

**Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Up the marble stairs… **

**"****The Dark Lord was there? What happened then?" **

"Yeah, definitely not Moody, he calls him Voldemort not the Dark Lord, and only Death Eaters call him that." Kingsley said.

"Very true," Remus said.

**"****Killed Cedric… they killed Cedric…" **

**"****And then?" **

**Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Along the corridor… **

**"****Made a potion… got his body back…" **

**"****The Dark Lord got his body back? He's returned?" **

**"****And the Death Eaters came… and then we dueled…" **

**"****You dueled with the Dark Lord?" **

**"****Got away… my wand… did something funny… I saw my mum and dad… they came out of his wand…" **

**"****In here Cristal… in here, and sit down… You'll be all right now… drink this…"**

"Don't drink it." The group said.

"I wasn't in my right mind, I'm sorry." Cris said.

"I know, but you have no idea what would have been in that drink." Sirius said.

"I don't think it was dangerous." Cris said.

**Cris heard a key scrape in a lock and felt a cup being pushed into her hands. **

**"****Drink it… you'll feel better… come on, now. Cristal, I need to know exactly what happened…" **

"I hope that isn't the truth serum." Lily said.

"It wasn't," Cris said reassuringly. Lily nodded and motioned for Draco to continue reading.

**Moody helped tip the stuff down Cris' throat; she coughed, a peppery taste burning her throat. Moody's office came into sharper focus, and so did Moody himself… He looked as white as Fudge had looked, and both eyes were fixed unblinkingly upon Cris' face. **

**"****Voldemort's back, Cristal? You're sure he's back? How did he do it?" **

**"****He took stuff from his father's grave, and from Wormtail, and me," said Cris. **

**Her head felt clearer; her scar wasn't hurting so badly; she could now see Moody's face distinctly, even though the office was dark. She could still hear screaming and shouting from the distant Quidditch field. **

**"****What did the Dark Lord take from you?" said Moody. **

**"****Blood," said Cris, raising her arm. Her sleeve was ripped where Wormtail's dagger had torn it. **

**Moody let out his breath in a long, low hiss. **

**"****And the Death Eaters? They returned?" **

**"****Yes," said Cris. "Loads of them…" **

**"****How did he treat them?" Moody asked quietly. "Did he forgive them?" **

"That is something I would not have asked." Mad-Eye said.

"Of course you wouldn't, you would ask if he killed them." Tonks said.

**But Cris had suddenly remembered. She should have told Dumbledore, she should have said it straightaway – **

"Don't worry; I'm sure Dumbledore will figure something out." Remus said.

"And I did," Dumbledore said.

"**There's a Death Eater at Hogwarts! There's a Death Eater here - they put my name in the Goblet of Fire, they made sure I got through to the end -" **

**Cris tried to get up, but Moody pushed her back down. **

"**I know who the Death Eater is," he said quietly. **

"That just gives us more proof." Bill said.

"**Karkaroff?" said Cris wildly. "Where is he? Have you got him? Is he locked up?" **

"You are good girlie, but since you didn't know me you made the right assumptions." Mad-Eye said. Cris looked at him and nodded in thanks.

"**Karkaroff?" said Moody with an odd laugh. "Karkaroff fled tonight, when he felt the Dark Mark burn upon his arm. He betrayed too many faithful supporters of the Dark Lord to wish to meet them… but I doubt he will get far. The Dark Lord has ways of tracking his enemies." **

"**Karkaroff's gone? He ran away? But then - he didn't put my name in the goblet?" **

"**No," said Moody slowly. "No, he didn't. It was I who did that." **

"That's the proof we need." Charlie said quietly.

**Cris heard, but didn't believe. **

"**No, you didn't," she said. "You didn't do that… you can't have done…" **

"**I assure you I did," said Moody, and his magical eye swung around and fixed upon the door, and Cris knew he was making sure that there was no one outside it. At the same time, Moody drew out his wand and pointed it at Cris. **

"**He forgave them, then?" he said. "The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?" **

"**What?" said Cris. **

**She was looking at the wand Moody was pointing at her. This was a bad joke, it had to be. **

"Sadly danger comes from the least likely places." Lily said.

"**I asked you," said Moody quietly, "whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn't even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky." **

"So whoever is pretending to be Moody also casted the mark that night?" Charlie asked. Cris nodded leaned into her boys' embrace, where she felt warm and loved.

"**You fired… What are you talking about…?" **

**"I told you Cristal… I told you. If there's one thing I hate more than any other, it's a Death Eater who walked free. **

"Don't twist Mad-Eye's saying whoever you are!" Tonks snapped her hair turning red in anger.

**They turned their backs on my master when he needed them most. I expected him to punish them. I expected him to torture them. Tell me he hurt them, Cristal…" Moody's face was suddenly lit with an insane smile. **

"Whoever this guy is is clearly mad." Bill said.

"No kidding," Charlie said.

"**Tell me he told them that I, I alone remained faithful… prepared to risk everything to deliver to him the one thing he wanted above all… you" **

"**You didn't… it - it can't be you…" **

**"Who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, under the name of a different school? I did. Who frightened off every person I thought might try to hurt you or prevent you from winning the tournament? I did. Who nudged Hagrid into showing you the dragons? I did. Who helped you see the only way you could beat the dragon? I did."**

"Wow, whoever this Death Eater is, he is clearly pretty stupid." Lily said.

"You can say that again." Robin said with a smile.

**Moody's magical eye had now left the door. It was fixed upon Cris. His lopsided mouth leered more widely than ever. **

"**It hasn't been easy, Cristal, guiding you through these tasks without arousing suspicion. I have had to use every ounce of cunning I possess, so that my hand would not be detectable in your success. Dumbledore would have been very suspicious if you had managed everything too easily. As long as you got into that maze, preferably with a decent head start - then, I knew, I would have a chance of getting rid of the other champions and leaving your way clear. But I also had to contend with your stupidity. **

"Don't call her stupid!" yelled the room.

**The second task… that was when I was most afraid we would fail. I was keeping watch on you, Potter. I knew you hadn't worked out the egg's clue, so I had to give you another hint -"**

"**You didn't," Cris said hoarsely. "Cedric gave me the clue -" **

"**Who told Cedric to open it underwater? I did. I trusted that he would pass the information on to you. Decent people are so easy to manipulate, Potter. **

People growled at that, how dare that imposter say something like that.

**I was sure Cedric would want to repay you for telling him about the dragons, and so he did. But even then, Potter, even then you seemed likely to fail. I was watching all the time… all those hours in the library. Didn't you realize that the book you needed was in your dormitory all along? I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy, don't you remember? **

**Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. It would have told you all you needed to know about gillyweed. I expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could for help. Longbottom would have told you in an instant. But you did not… you did not… You have a streak of pride and independence that might have ruined all. **

"**So what could I do? Feed you information from another innocent source. You told me at the Yule Ball a house-elf called Dobby had given you a Christmas present. I called the elf to the staffroom to collect some robes for cleaning. I staged a loud conversation with Professor McGonagall about the hostages who had been taken, and whether Potter would think to use gillyweed. And your little elf friend ran straight to Snape's office and then hurried to find you…" **

"I hope Dobby doesn't find out about this, it will break his heart." Ginny said.

"I don't think he did find out." Al said.

"Good," Cris said quietly.

**Moody's wand was still pointing directly at Cris' heart. Over his shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the wall. **

"Thank god, Dumbledore is on his way." Lily muttered.

"**You were so long in that lake, Potter, I thought you had drowned. But luckily, Dumbledore took your idiocy for nobility,**

"It was not idiocy, that's just Cris being Cris; you should have realized that she would take it seriously." Hermione said.

"Thanks Mia, love you too." Cris said.

**and marked you high for it. I breathed again. **

**"****You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see through the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I Stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed.**

"So zat is who did zat." Fleur said.

"Now you know." Cris said.

"Is he the same person who put me under his control?" Viktor asked. Cris didn't answer; this part of the book was opening up old wounds so Draco continued reading.

**I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear." **

**Cris stared at Moody. She just didn't see how this could be… Dumbledore's friend, the famous Auror… the one who had caught so many Death Eaters… It made no sense… no sense at all…**

"That's because it's not me." Mad-Eye said.

"I know that now." Cris said.

**The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, had become more distinct. Cris could see the outlines of three people over Moody's shoulder, moving closer and closer. But Moody wasn't watching them. His magical eye was upon Cris. **

"That's good," Tonks said.

**"****The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him - the thing he needed above all to regenerate - and then I killed you for him. I will be honored beyond all other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter… closer than a son…" **

"Yeah right, he wanted to do it himself." Sirius said.

**Moody's normal eye was bulging, the magical eye fixed upon Cris. The door was barred, and Cris knew she would never reach her own wand in time… **

**"****The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, and he looked completely insane now, towering over Cris, leering down at her, "have much in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers… very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Cristal, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure… the very great pleasure… of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!" **

"Who the hell is he then?" Padfoot asked.

"Be patient dad, it'll be relieved soon." Scarlett said.

"No cool," Padfoot said.

**"****You're mad," Cris said - she couldn't stop herself- "you're mad!" **

**"****Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Cristal Potter, you did not conquer him - and now - I conquer you!" **

**Moody raised his wand, he opened his mouth; Cris plunged her own hand into her robes - **

**"****Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blasted apart – Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor. **

"Thank god," Lily said breathing a sigh of relief.

**Cris, still staring at the place where Moody's face had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall looking back at her out of the Foe-Glass. She looked around and saw the three of them standing in the doorway, Dumbledore in front, his wand outstretched. **

**At that moment, Cris fully understood for the first time why people said Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon Dumbledore's face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Cris could have ever imagined. There was no benign smile upon Dumbledore's face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off burning heat. **

"I don't think I ever want to see that look on his face ever." Padfoot said.

"Nobody does," Cris said.

**He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's unconscious body, and kicked him over onto his back, so that his face was visible. Snape followed him, looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face was still visible, glaring into the room. Professor McGonagall went straight to Cris. **

**"****Come along, Potter," she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. "Come along… hospital wing…" **

**"****No," said Dumbledore sharply. **

"Why not, she needs to go?" Lily asked almost shrieking.

"Easy Lils, I think Dumbledore will explain." Prongs said.

**"****Dumbledore, she ought to - look at her - she's been through enough tonight -" **

**"****She will stay, Minerva, because she needs to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. **

**"****Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery. She needs to know who has put her through the ordeal she has suffered tonight, and why." **

"That makes a lot of sense." Robin said.

"Exactly, that way she won't go and try and attack Mad-Eye for something he didn't do." Bill said. The group chuckled a bit before Draco continued reading.

**"****Moody," Cris said. She was still in a state of complete disbelief. "How can it have been Moody?" **

**"****This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew - and I followed." **

"But why didn't you get there in time?" Lily asked.

"I needed to have back up; I am not as young as I used to be." Dumbledore said.

**Dumbledore bent down over Moody's limp form and put a hand inside his robes. He pulled out Moody's hip flask and a set of keys on a ring. Then he turned to Professors McGonagall and Snape. **

**"****Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. **

"Why Winky?" Lily asked.

"Could this have something to do with Crouch?" Moony asked.

"Maybe," Padfoot said.

**Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, then come back here." **

"And enters Sirius." Robin said.

"Good, at least you're there for her." Lily said.

**If either Snape or McGonagall found these instructions peculiar, they hid their confusion. Both turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore walked over to the trunk with seven locks, fitted the first key in the lock, and opened it. It contained a mass of spell-books. Dumbledore closed the trunk, placed a second key in the second lock, and opened the trunk again. The spell books had vanished; this time it contained an assortment of broken Sneako-scopes, some parchment and quills, and what looked like a silvery Invisibility Cloak. Cris watched, astounded, as Dumbledore placed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys in their respective locks, reopening the trunk each time, and revealing different contents each time. **

"That's neat," Gwen said.

**Then he placed the seventh key in the lock, threw open the lid, and Cris let out a cry of amazement. **

**She was looking down into a kind of pit, an underground room, and lying on the floor some ten feet below, apparently fast asleep, thin and starved in appearance, was the real Mad-Eye Moody. **

"You seem to have gained some of the weight back." Lily said.

"Though I bet he is even more paranoid." Padfoot said with a laugh. Mad-Eye just nodded but didn't say anything more.

**His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing. Cris stared, thunderstruck, between the sleeping Moody in the trunk and the unconscious Moody lying on the floor of the office. **

**Dumbledore climbed into the trunk, lowered himself, and fell lightly onto the floor beside the sleeping Moody. He bent over him. **

**"****Stunned - controlled by the Imperius Curse - very weak," he said. "Of course, they would have needed to keep him alive. Cris, throw down the imposter's cloak - he's freezing. Madam Pomfrey will need to see him, but he seems in no immediate danger." **

"That's good," Robin said.

**Cris did as she was told; Dumbledore covered Moody in the cloak, tucked it around him, and clambered out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that stood upon the desk, unscrewed it, and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered onto the office floor. **

**"****Polyjuice Potion, Cris," said Dumbledore. "You see the simplicity of it, and the brilliance. For Moody never does drink except from his hip flask, he's well known for it. **

"Should really change that." Mad-Eye grumbled.

**The imposter needed, of course, to keep the real Moody close by, so that he could continue making the potion. You see his hair…" Dumbledore looked down on the Moody in the trunk. "The imposter has been cutting it off all year, see where it is uneven? But I think, in the excitement of tonight, our fake Moody might have forgotten to take it as frequently as he should have done… on the hour… every hour… We shall see." **

"Let's see who the imposter is." Moony said.

**Dumbledore pulled out the chair at the desk and sat down upon it, his eyes fixed upon the unconscious Moody on the floor. Cris stared at him too. Minutes passed in silence… **

**Then, before Cris' very eyes, the face of the man on the floor began to change. The scars were disappearing, the skin was becoming smooth; the mangled nose became whole and started to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the color of straw. Suddenly, with a loud clunk, the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place; next moment, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it; it rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction. **

"That's gross," Gwen said.

**Cris saw a man lying before her, pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. She knew who he was. She had seen him in Dumbledore's Pensieve, had watched him being led away from court by the dementors, trying to convince Mr. Crouch that he was innocent… but he was lined around the eyes now and looked much older… **

"No way," Bill said.

**There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor. Snape had returned with Winky at his heels. Professor McGonagall was right behind them. **

**"****Crouch!" Snape said, stopping dead in the doorway. "Barty Crouch!" **

"Who in the world did he escape? I saw them bury him!" Sirius asked.

"I'm sure it'll be explained." Robin said.

"But that means I wasn't the first to escape." Padfoot said pouting. The group chuckled a bit.

**"****Good heavens," said Professor McGonagall, stopping dead and staring down at the man on the floor. **

**Filthy, disheveled, Winky peered around Snape's legs. Her mouth opened wide and she let out a piercing shriek. **

**"****Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?" **

"She knows, but that means that Crouch helped his son escape." Fudge said.

"I wonder how." Percy said.

"Something simple but brilliant." Cris said quoting what Dumbledore said at that time. Dumbledore chuckled but didn't look at her which frustrated her a bit.

**She flung herself forward onto the young man's chest. **

**"****You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master's son!" **

**"****He is simply Stunned, Winky," said Dumbledore. "Step aside, please. Severus, you have the potion?" **

"And we will get the truth." Robin said.

**Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid: the Veritaserum with which he had threatened Cris in class. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall were still glaring down upon them all. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Dumbledore forced the man's mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed his wand at the man's chest and said, "Ennervate." **

**Crouch's son opened his eyes. His face was slack, his gaze unfocused. **

**Dumbledore knelt before him, so that their faces were level. **

**"****Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly. **

**The man's eyelids flickered. **

**"****Yes," he muttered. **

**"****I would like you to tell us," said Dumbledore softly, "how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?" **

**Crouch took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice. "My mother saved me. She knew she was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother's hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other's appearance."**

**Winky was shaking her head, trembling. **

**"****Say no more. Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!" **

"So that's how they did it." Sirius said.

"I don't think Winky knows about the truth serum." Lily said.

"I don't think so either." Prongs said.

**But Crouch took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice. **

**"****The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban. They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors. **

"I didn't notice anything either." Sirius said.

"It's alright love," Robin said.

**"****My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me." **

**The man's eyelids flickered. **

**"****And what did your father do with you, when he had got you home?" said Dumbledore quietly. **

**"****Staged my mother's death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master… of returning to his service." **

**"****How did your father subdue you?" said Dumbledore. **

**"****The Imperius Curse," Crouch said. **

**"****I was under my father's control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behavior." **

"But he was under the Imperius though." Lily said.

"Winky was just being caring though." Hermione said.

**"****Master Barty, Master Barty," sobbed Winky through her hands. "You isn't ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble…" **

**"****Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?" said Dumbledore softly. "Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?" **

**"****Yes," said Crouch, his eyelids flickering again. "A witch in my father's office. Bertha Jorkins. **

"So that's why her memory turned horrible." Mr. Weasley said.

**She came to the house with papers for my father's signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she'd found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently." **

"Only to be broken by Voldemort." Hermione snapped.

**"****Why is she coming to nose into my master's private business?" sobbed Winky. "Why isn't she leaving us be?" **

**"****Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup," said Dumbledore. **

**"****Winky talked my father into it," said Crouch, still in the same monotonous voice. "She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house for years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end. **

**"****It was carefully planned. My father led me and Winky up to the Top Box early in the day. Winky was to say that she was saving a seat for my father. I was to sit there, invisible. When everyone had left the box, we would emerge. Winky would appear to be alone. Nobody would ever know. **

**"****But Winky didn't know that I was growing stronger. I was starting to fight my father's Imperius Curse. There were times when I was almost myself again. There were brief periods when I seemed outside his control. It happened, there, in the Top Box. It was like waking from a deep sleep. I found myself out in public, in the middle of the match, and I saw, in front of me, a wand sticking out of a girl's pocket. **

"So that's how your wand got stolen." Sirius said.

"You should find a better place to put it." Remus said. Cris nodded she start think about it.

**I had not been allowed a wand since before Azkaban. I stole it. Winky didn't know. Winky is frightened of heights. She had her face hidden." **

**"****Master Barty, you bad boy!" whispered Winky, tears trickling between her fingers. **

**"****So you took the wand," said Dumbledore, "and what did you do with it?" **

**"We went back to the tent," said Crouch. "Then we heard them. We heard the Death Eaters. The ones who had never been to Azkaban. The ones who had never suffered for my master. They had turned their backs on him. They were not enslaved, as I was. They were free to seek him, but they did not. They were merely making sport of Muggles. The sound of their voices awoke me. My mind was clearer than it had been in years. I was angry. I had the wand. I wanted to attack them for their disloyalty to my master. My father had left the tent; he had gone to free the Muggles. Winky was afraid to see me so angry. She used her own brand of magic to bind me to her.**

"So that's why she wasn't able to move freely." Charlie said.

**She pulled me from the tent, pulled me into the forest, away from the Death Eaters. I tried to hold her back. I wanted to return to the campsite. I wanted to show those Death Eaters what loyalty to the Dark Lord meant, and to punish them for their lack of it. I used the stolen wand to cast the Dark Mark into the sky. **

**"****Ministry wizards arrived. They shot Stunning Spells everywhere. One of the spells came through the trees where Winky and I stood. The bond connecting us was broken. We were both Stunned. **

"So they did get him." Kingsley said.

**"****When Winky was discovered, my father knew I must be nearby. He searched the bushes where she had been found and felt me lying there. He waited until the other Ministry members had left the forest. He put me back under the Imperius Curse and took me home. He dismissed Winky. She had failed him. She had let me acquire a wand. She had almost let me escape." **

**Winky let out a wail of despair. **

**"****Now it was just Father and I, alone in the house. And then… and then…" **

**Crouch's head rolled on his neck, and an insane grin spread across his face. "My master came for me. **

"Voldemort was at their house?" Sirius asked.

"No wonder Crouch disappeared." Remus said. Percy paled, he should have realized that something was wrong.

**"****He arrived at our house late one night in the arms of his servant Wormtail. My master had found out that I was still alive. He had captured Bertha Jorkins in Albania. He had tortured her. She told him a great deal. She told him about the Triwizard Tournament. She told him the old Auror, Moody, was going to teach at Hogwarts. He tortured her until he broke through the Memory Charm my father had placed upon her. She told him I had escaped from Azkaban. She told him my father kept me imprisoned to prevent me from seeking my master. And so my master knew that I was still his faithful servant - perhaps the most faithful of all. My master conceived a plan, based upon the information Bertha had given him. He needed me. He arrived at our house near midnight. My father answered the door." **

**The smile spread wider over Crouch's face, as though recalling the sweetest memory of his life. **

"Dear god," Lily said covering her mouth.

**Winky's petrified brown eyes were visible through her fingers. She seemed too appalled to speak. **

**"****It was very quick. My father was placed under the Imperius Curse by my master. Now my father was the one imprisoned, controlled. My master forced him to go about his business as usual, to act as though nothing was wrong. And I was released. I awoke. I was myself again, alive as I hadn't been in years. **

**"****And what did Lord Voldemort ask you to do?" said Dumbledore. **

**"He asked me whether I was ready to risk everything for him. I was ready. It was my dream, my greatest ambition, to serve him, to prove myself to him. He told me he needed to place a faithful servant at Hogwarts. A servant who would guide Cristal Potter through the Triwizard Tournament without appearing to do so. A servant who would watch over Cristal Potter. Ensure she reached the Triwizard Cup. Turn the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master. But first -"**

"He needed Mad-Eye." Padfoot said.

**"****You needed Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore.**

Padfoot shared a smile with Dumbledore as Draco went on.

**His blue eyes were blazing, though his voice remained calm. **

**"****Wormtail and I did it. We had prepared the Polyjuice Potion beforehand. We journeyed to his house. Moody put up a struggle. There was a commotion. We managed to subdue him just in time. Forced him into a compartment of his own magical trunk. Took some of his hair and added it to the potion. I drank it; I became Moody's double. I took his leg and his eye. I was ready to face Arthur Weasley when he arrived to sort out the Muggles who had heard a disturbance. I made the dustbins move around the yard. I told Arthur Weasley I had heard intruders in my yard, who had set off the dustbins.**

"I should have realized." Mr. Weasley said.

"Don't feel bad Arthur. The boy did me well until the end." Mad-Eye said.

**Then I packed up Moody's clothes and Dark detectors, put them in the trunk with Moody, and set off for Hogwarts. I kept him alive, under the Imperius Curse. I wanted to be able to question him. To find out about his past, learn his habits, so that I could fool even Dumbledore. I also needed his hair to make the Polyjuice Potion. The other ingredients were easy. I stole boom-slang skin from the dungeons. When the Potions master found me in his office, I said I was under orders to search it." **

"Smart," Remus said.

**"****And what became of Wormtail after you attacked Moody?" said Dumbledore. **

**"****Wormtail returned to care for my master, in my father's house, and to keep watch over my father." **

"So he was living there, all last year?" Fudge asked.

"I believe so." Dumbledore said.

**"****But your father escaped," said Dumbledore. **

**"****Yes. After a while he began to fight the Imperius Curse just as I had done. There were periods when he knew what was happening. My master decided it was no longer safe for my father to leave the house. He forced him to send letters to the Ministry instead. He made him write and say he was ill. But Wormtail neglected his duty. He was not watchful enough. My father escaped. My master guessed that he was heading for Hogwarts. My father was going to tell Dumbledore everything, to confess. He was going to admit that he had smuggled me from Azkaban. **

**"My master sent me word of my father's escape. He told me to stop him at all costs. So I waited and watched. I used the map I had taken from Cristal Potter. The map that had almost ruined everything."**

**"****Map?" said Dumbledore quickly. "What map is this?" **

"Ah man, he found out." Padfoot said.

**"****Potter's map of Hogwarts. Potter saw me on it. Potter saw me stealing more ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's office one night. She thought I was my father. We have the same first name. I took the map from Potter that night. I told her my father hated Dark wizards. Potter believed my father was after Snape. **

"We need to work out a way for us to determine senior to junior." Prongs said.

"We can still do that." Moony said.

**"****For a week I waited for my father to arrive at Hogwarts. At last, one evening, the map showed my father entering the grounds. I pulled on my Invisibility Cloak and went down to meet him. He was walking around the edge of the forest. Then Potter came, and Krum. I waited. I could not hurt Potter; my master needed her. Potter ran to get Dumbledore. I Stunned Krum. I killed my father." **

"So Crouch is dead?" Lily asked.

"Yes," Cris said.

**"****Noooo!" wailed Winky. "Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you saying?" **

**"****You killed your father," Dumbledore said, in the same soft voice. "What did you do with the body?" **

**"****Carried it into the forest. Covered it with the Invisibility Cloak. I had the map with me. I watched Potter run into the castle. She met Snape. Dumbledore joined them. I watched Potter bringing Dumbledore out of the castle. I walked back out of the forest, doubled around behind them, went to meet them. I told Dumbledore Snape had told me where to come.**

"Liar," Gwen said.

**"****Dumbledore told me to go and look for my father. I went back to my father's body. Watched the map. When everyone was gone, I Transfigured my father's body. He became a bone… I buried it, while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, in the freshly dug earth in front of Hagrid's cabin." **

"It's not still there is it?" Gwen asked her face deathly pale.

"No, we got him and transfigured him back." Dumbledore said.

"Good," Gwen said.

**There was complete silence now, except for Winky's continued sobs. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight…" **

**"****I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. **

**"****Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards." **

**The insane smile lit his features once more, and his head drooped onto his shoulder as Winky wailed and sobbed at his side.**

"That's the chapter." Draco said. He handed it to Gwen who took a deep breath before continuing, the book was almost over.


	41. Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways

"**Chapter 36: The Parting of the Ways," **Gwen read.

"What does that mean?" Padfoot asked.

"That the Minister won't be a word that I say." Cris said glaring at Fudge.

"I am truly sorry Miss Potter." Fudge said. "I just didn't want to believe it."

"The sooner you see the truth in things then the sooner you can react to the situation." Keiran said. Fudge nodded but didn't say anything so Gwen started the chapter.

**Dumbledore stood up. He stared down at Barty Crouch for a moment with disgust on his face. Then he raised his wand once more and ropes flew out of it, ropes that twisted themselves around Barty Crouch, binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall.**

**"****Minerva, could I ask you to stand guard here while I take Cristal upstairs?"**

**"****Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous, as though she had just watched someone being sick. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Barty Crouch, her hand was quite steady.**

"Well I am a Gryffindor." McGonagall said with a smile.

**"****Severus" - Dumbledore turned to Snape - "please tell Madam Pomfrey to come down here; we need to get Alastor Moody into the hospital wing. Then go down into the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office. He will undoubtedly want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in half an hour's time if he needs me."**

**Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room.**

**"****Cris?" Dumbledore said gently.**

**Cris got up and swayed again; the pain in her leg, which she had not noticed all the time she had been listening to Crouch, now returned in full measure. She also realized that she was shaking. Dumbledore gripped her arm and helped her out into the dark corridor.**

**"****I want you to come up to my office first. Cris," he said quietly as they headed up the passageway. **

"But she needs to go to the Hospital Wing." Mrs. Weasley cried.

"I know that, but I needed her to tell me what happened. The sooner I know the sooner we act on it and I did." Dumbledore said.

"But the venom in the bite-" Charlie said.

"Don't worry Mr. Weasley it was taken care of." Dumbledore said.

**"****Sirius is waiting for us there."**

"I forgot you were waiting up there." Lily said.

"Thank god you were." Prongs said.

**Cris nodded. A kind of numbness and a sense of complete unreality were upon her, but she did not care; she was even glad of it. She didn't want to have to think about anything that had happened since she had first touched the Triwizard Cup. She didn't want to have to examine the memories, fresh and sharp as photographs, which kept flashing across her mind. Mad-Eye Moody, inside the trunk. Wormtail, slumped on the ground, cradling his stump of an arm. Voldemort, rising from the steaming cauldron. Cedric… dead… Cedric, asking to be returned to his parents…she closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling…**

The room grew solemn at that and Gwen quickly read on.

**"****Professor," Cris mumbled, "where are Mr. and Mrs. Diggory?"**

**"****They are with Professor Sprout," said Dumbledore. His voice, which had been so calm throughout the interrogation of Barty Crouch, shook very slightly for the first time. **

"I felt great remorse; I feel it every time a student dies whether they have already graduated or not." Dumbledore said solemnly.

"**She was Head of Cedric's house, and knew him best."**

**They had reached the stone gargoyle. Dumbledore gave the password, it sprang aside, and he and Cris went up the moving spiral staircase to the oak door.**

**Dumbledore pushed it open. Sirius was standing there. His face was white and gaunt as it had been when he had escaped Azkaban. In one swift moment, he had crossed the room.**

"**Cris, are you all right? I knew it - I knew something like this - what happened?"**

**His hands shook as he helped Cris into a chair in front of the desk.**

"**What happened?" he asked more urgently.**

"Sirius, don't push her." Lily said.

"I know, I was worried, she was covered in mud and blood and pale as a sheet." Sirius said.

"I didn't realize I looked that bad." Cris said.

"You did," Sirius said quietly.

**Dumbledore began to tell Sirius everything Barty Crouch had said. Cris was only half listening. So tired every bone in her body was aching, she wanted nothing more than to sit here, undisturbed, for hours and hours, until she fell asleep and didn't have to think or feel anymore.**

**There was a soft rush of wings. Fawkes the phoenix had left his perch, flown across the office, and landed on Cris' knee.**

"Good, he'll help with the bite." Charlie said relieved.

**"'****Lo, Fawkes," said Cris quietly. She stroked the phoenix's beautiful scarlet-and gold plumage. Fawkes blinked peacefully up at her. There was something comforting about his warm weight.**

**Dumbledore stopped talking. He sat down opposite Cris, behind his desk. He was looking at Cris, who avoided his eyes. Dumbledore was going to question her. He was going to make Cris relive everything.**

"I'm very sorry about that Cris, but I had to know." Dumbledore said.

"It's alright," Cris said.

**"****I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze Cris," said Dumbledore.**

**"****We can leave that till morning, can't we, Dumbledore?" said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand on Cris' shoulder. "Let her have a sleep. Let her rest."**

"Listen to Sirius." Lily, Tonks and Mrs. Weasley said.

"Wow, I never thought I would hear mum say that." Fred said.

"Me either Gred," George said. That caused the tension to lesson some and Gwen continued reading.

**Cris felt a rush of gratitude toward Sirius, but Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius's words. He leaned forward toward Cris.**

**Very unwillingly, Cris raised her head and looked into those blue eyes.**

**"****If I thought I could help you," Dumbledore said gently, "by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened." **

"If you want to leave again you can." Fred said to Cris. She looked up at him and shook her head.

"Just hold me," she whispered. Fred and George held her to them like they've done before.

**The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It shivered in the air, and Cris felt as though a drop of hot liquid had slipped down her throat into her stomach, warming him, and strengthening him.**

**She took a deep breath and began to tell them. As she spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before her eyes; she saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revived Voldemort; she saw the Death Eaters Apparating between the graves around them; she saw Cedric's body, lying on the ground beside the cup.**

Cris shuddered and buried her face in Fred's chest.

**Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to say something, his hand still tight on Cris' shoulder, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him, and Cris was glad of this, because it was easier to keep going now she had started. **

"That would be why I did it." Dumbledore said. Cris looked over at him and smiled.

**It was even a relief; she felt almost as though something poisonous were being extracted from her. It was costing her every bit of determination she had to keep talking, yet she sensed that once she had finished, she would feel better.**

**When Cris told of Wormtail piercing her arm with the dagger, however, Sirius let out a vehement exclamation and Dumbledore stood up so quickly that Cris started. Dumbledore walked around the desk and told Cris to stretch out her arm.**

**Cris showed them both the place where her robes were torn and the cut beneath them.**

Cris looked down at the scar on her arm and traced it with a finger. Lily and Prongs noticed and sighed, she didn't need all these scars.

**"****He said my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's," Cris told Dumbledore. "He said the protection my - my mother left in me - he'd have it too. And he was right - he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."**

**For a fleeting instant, Cris thought she saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes. **

"What!" Lily snapped glaring at the headmaster.

"I have a suspicion but I am not certain, I'm sure it all be explained." Dumbledore said.

"I hope so," Lily said.

**But next second Cris was sure she had imagined it, for when Dumbledore had returned to his seat behind the desk, he looked as old and weary as Cris had ever seen him.**

**"****Very well," he said, sitting down again. "Voldemort has overcome that particular barrier. Cris, continue, please."**

"So the protection won't work, so why did you send her back?" snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"Because it'll still protect against Death Eaters." Dumbledore said.

"But not everything as she got attacked by Dementors this summer." Sirius said.

"What?!" exclaimed the past people.

"Not now," Dumbledore said and motioned for Gwen to continue and she did.

**Cris went on; she explained how Voldemort had emerged from the cauldron, and told them all she could remember of Voldemort's speech to the Death Eaters. Then she told how Voldemort had untied her, returned her wand to her, and prepared to duel.**

**But when she reached the part where the golden beam of light had connected her and Voldemort's wands, she found her throat obstructed. She tried to keep talking, but the memories of what had come out of Voldemort's wand were flooding into her mind. She could see Cedric emerging, see the old man, Bertha Jorkins… her father… her mother…**

Fred and George held her tighter as Fred felt her tears wet his shirt.

**She was glad when Sirius broke the silence.**

**"****The wands connected?" he said, looking from Cris to Dumbledore. "Why?"**

**Cris looked up at Dumbledore again, on whose face there was an arrested look. "Priori Incantatem," he muttered.**

**His eyes gazed into Cris' and it was almost as though an invisible beam of understanding shot between them.**

**"****The Reverse Spell effect?" said Sirius sharply.**

**"****Exactly," said Dumbledore. "Cris' wand and Voldemort's wand share cores. Each of them contains a feather from the tail of the same phoenix. This phoenix, in fact," he added, and he pointed at the scarlet-and-gold bird, perching peacefully on Cris' knee.**

"So that's why Fawkes likes you so much." Charlie said with a smile.

**"****My wand's feather came from Fawkes?" Cris said, amazed.**

**"****Yes," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Ollivander wrote to tell me you had bought the second wand, the moment you left his shop four years ago."**

**"****So what happens when a wand meets its brother?" said Sirius.**

"I think we just saw what happens." Remus said.

**"****They will not work properly against each other," said Dumbledore. "If, however, the owners of the wands force the wands to do battle… a very rare effect will take place. One of the wands will force the other to regurgitate spells it has performed - in reverse. The most recent first… and then those which preceded it…"**

"So in the case where the last spells are the killing curse the spirits of those killed will appear?" Gwen asked.

"I think that would be a yes," Remus said. Gwen nodded and continued reading.

**He looked interrogatively at Cris, and Cris nodded.**

**"****Which means," said Dumbledore slowly, his eyes upon Cris' face, "that some form of Cedric must have reappeared."**

**Cris nodded again.**

**"****Diggory came back to life?" said Sirius sharply.**

**"****No spell can reawaken the dead," said Dumbledore heavily.**

"Though I wish it were so." Sirius muttered.

"We all do." Robin said grabbing his hand.

**"All that would have happened is a kind of reverse echo. A shadow of the living Cedric would have emerged from the wand… am I correct, Cris?"**

**"****He spoke to me," Cris said. She was suddenly shaking again. "Th… the ghost Cedric, or whatever he was, spoke."**

**"****An echo," said Dumbledore, "which retained Cedric's appearance and character. I am guessing other such forms appeared… less recent victims of Voldemort's wand…"**

**"****An old man," Cris said, her throat still constricted. "Bertha Jorkins. And…"**

**"****Your parents?" said Dumbledore quietly.**

**"****Yes," said Cris.**

**Sirius's grip on Cris' shoulder was now so tight it was painful.**

"Sorry," Sirius said sheepishly.

"It's alright, you weren't expecting me to say that." Cris said. Sirius nodded and looked down at his lap where Robin's and his fingers were intertwined.

**"****The last murders the wand performed," said Dumbledore, nodding. "In reverse order. More would have appeared, of course, had you maintained the connection. Very well, Cris, these echoes, these shadows… what did they do?"**

**Cris described how the figures that had emerged from the wand had prowled the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, how the shadow of Cris' mother had told her what to do, how Cedric's had made its final request.**

"I would have done it anyway." Cris said.

"I'm sure you would have." Dumbledore said with a small smile.

**At this point Cris found she could not continue. She looked around at Sirius and saw that he had his face in his hands.**

**Cris suddenly became aware that Fawkes had left her knee. The phoenix had fluttered to the floor. It was resting its beautiful head against Cris' injured leg, and thick, pearly tears were falling from its eyes onto the wound left by the spider. The pain vanished. The skin mended. Her leg was repaired.**

"Well that's one way to do it." Charlie said with a relieved sigh.

"But she should still go to the Hospital Wing," Lily said.

**"****I will say it again," said Dumbledore as the phoenix rose into the air and resettled itself upon the perch beside the door. "You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you tonight Cris. You have shown bravery equal to those who died fighting Voldemort at the height of his powers. **

**You have shouldered a grown wizard's burden and found yourself equal to it - and you have now given us all we have a right to expect. You will come with me to the hospital wing. I do not want you returning to the dormitory tonight. A Sleeping Potion, and some peace… Sirius, would you like to stay with her?"**

**Sirius nodded and stood up. He transformed back into the great black dog and walked with Cris and Dumbledore out of the office, accompanying them down a flight of stairs to the hospital wing.**

**When Dumbledore pushed open the door Cris saw Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ron, and Hermione grouped around a harassed-looking Madam Pomfrey. **

"So that's where the two of you were." Remus said.

"We were worrying about Cris." Hermione said.

**They appeared to be demanding to know where Cris was and what had happened to her. All of them whipped around as Cris, Dumbledore, and the black dog entered, and Mrs. Weasley let out a kind of muffled scream.**

**"****Cris! Oh Cris!"**

**She started to hurry toward her, but Dumbledore moved between them.**

**"****Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Cristal has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. She has just had to relive it for me. What she needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If she would like you all to stay with her," he added, looking around at Ron, Hermione, and Bill too, "you may do so. But I do not want you questioning her until she is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening."**

"Good, at least she doesn't have to relive it again." Lily said.

**Mrs. Weasley nodded. She was very white. She rounded on Ron, Hermione, and Bill as though they were being noisy, and hissed, "Did you hear? She needs quiet!"**

**"****Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, staring at the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what -?"**

**"****This dog will be remaining with Cris for a while," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained. **

"Well I don't know about that." Remus said.

"I was good." Sirius said with a pout.

"That's a first." Remus said.

**Cris - I will wait while you get into bed."**

**Cris felt an inexpressible sense of gratitude to Dumbledore for asking the others not to question her. It wasn't as though she didn't want them there; but the thought of explaining it all over again, the idea of reliving it one more time, was more than she could stand.**

**"****I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge, Cris," said Dumbledore. "I would like you to remain here tomorrow until I have spoken to the school." He left.**

**As Madam Pomfrey led Cris to a nearby bed, she caught sight of the real Moody lying motionless in a bed at the far end of the room. His wooden leg and magical eye were lying on the bedside table.**

**"****Is he okay?" Cris asked.**

**"****He'll be fine," said Madam Pomfrey,**

"Isn't that would she would say with anything?" Bill asked.

"Yes, and it's usually true." Charlie said.

**giving Cris some pajamas and pulling screens around her. She took off her robes, pulled on the pajamas, and got into bed. Ron, Hermione, Bill, Mrs. Weasley, and the black dog came around the screen and settled themselves in chairs on either side of her. Ron and Hermione were looking at her almost cautiously, as though scared of her.**

"No, we weren't scared of you. We were worried about how you were looking at everything." Hermione said.

"Yeah, you were just staring at everything with a sort of emotionless eyes." Ron said.

"And now we know why." Hermione said. Cris looked over at them and smiled.

**"****I'm all right," she told them. "Just tired."**

**Mrs. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as she smoothed her bed-covers unnecessarily.**

**Madam Pomfrey, who had bustled off to her office, returned holding a small bottle of some purple potion and a goblet.**

**"****You'll need to drink all of this. Cris," she said. "It's a potion for dreamless sleep."**

**Cris took the goblet and drank a few mouthfuls. She felt herself becoming drowsy at once. Everything around her became hazy; the lamps around the hospital wing seemed to be winking at her in a friendly way through the screen around her bed; her body felt as though it was sinking deeper into the warmth of the feather mattress. Before she could finish the potion, before she could say another word, her exhaustion had carried her off to sleep.**

**Cris woke up, so warm, so very sleepy, that she didn't open her eyes, wanting to drop off again. The room was still dimly lit; she was sure it was still nighttime and had a feeling that she couldn't have been asleep very long.**

"You were asleep a long time." Ron said. Cris smiled and nodded at him.

**Then she heard whispering around her.**

**"****They'll wake her if they don't shut up!"**

**"****What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?"**

**Cris opened her eyes blearily. Someone had removed her glasses. She could see the fuzzy outlines of Mrs. Weasley and Bill close by. Mrs. Weasley was on her feet.**

**"****That's Fudge's voice," she whispered. "And that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it? But what are they arguing about?"**

McGonagall turned to glare at the Minister who had the decency to look sheepish.

**Now Cris could hear them too: people shouting and running toward the hospital wing.**

**"****Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva -" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.**

**"****You should never have brought it inside the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out -"**

"What did he bring in?" Lily asked.

"I think I know," Moony said turning pale again.

**Cris heard the hospital doors burst open. Unnoticed by any of the people around her bed, all of whom were staring at the door as Bill pulled back the screens, Cris sat up and put her glasses back on.**

**Fudge came striding up the ward. Professors McGonagall and Snape were at his heels.**

**"****Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.**

**"****He's not here," said Mrs. Weasley angrily. "This is a hospital wing. Minister, don't you think you'd do better to -"**

**But the door opened, and Dumbledore came sweeping up the ward.**

"Good timing," Charlie said.

**"****What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you - I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch -"**

**"****There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"**

"He didn't." Prongs said staring wide eyed at the minister.

"He did." McGonagall said with a disgusted look.

**Cris had never seen Professor McGonagall lose control like this. There were angry blotches of color in her cheeks, and a hands were balled into fists; she was trembling with fury.- **

"I think that is the first time I've ever seen her look that angry." Hermione said.

"I don't think I will ever see her that angry again." Ron said.

**"****When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice; he seemed to feel his personal safety was in question. "He insisted on summoning a Dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch -"**

**"****I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but -"**

**"****My dear woman!" roared Fudge, who likewise looked angrier than Cris had ever seen him, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous -"**

"Then bring an Auror, not a freaking Dementor, he could have easily gone for Cris." Lily snapped. Fudge paled, he had not thought about it, after witnessing what happened the girl would have been a big target as well.

**But Professor McGonagall's voice drowned Fudge's.**

**"****The moment that - that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge, trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and - and -"**

"As much as I hate him, he doesn't deserve the kiss." Neville said.

"My thoughts exactly," Cris said with a smile.

**Cris felt a chill in her stomach as Professor McGonagall struggled to find words to describe what had happened. She did not need her to finish her sentence. She knew what the Dementor must have done. It had administered its fatal kiss to Barty Crouch. It had sucked his soul out through his mouth. He was worse than dead. **

Sirius shuddered and his future daughter gave him a comforting hug.

**"****By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths'."**

**"****But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring hard at Fudge, as though seeing him plainly for the first time. **

**"****He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."**

**"****Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery, is it?" blustered Fudge. "He was a raving lunatic! From what Minerva and Severus have told me, he seems to have thought he was doing it all on You-Know-Who's instructions!"**

"He was!" shouted the room.

"I know, and I am truly sorry Miss Potter," Fudge said. Cris looked at him with calculating eyes but didn't do or say anything.

**"****Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by-products of a plan to restore Voldemort to full strength again. The plan succeeded. Voldemort has been restored to his body."**

"I should have believed you, but I didn't want to." Fudge said.

"That is the problem, you took away their only evidence, the man responsible for everything that happened that day." Robin said.

**Fudge looked as though someone had just swung a heavy weight into his face. Dazed and blinking, he stared back at Dumbledore as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard. He began to sputter, still goggling at Dumbledore.**

**"****You-Know-Who… returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore…"**

**"****As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you," said Dumbledore, "we heard Barty Crouch confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum, he told us how he was smuggled out of Azkaban, and how Voldemort - learning of his continued existence from Bertha Jorkins - went to free him from his father and used him to capture Cristal. The plan worked, I tell you. Crouch has helped Voldemort to return." **

"How is this idiot even in office?" Prongs asked in a whisper.

"I have no idea." Moony answered.

**"****See here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, and Cris was astonished to see a slight smile dawning on his face, "you - you can't seriously believe that You-Know-Who - back? Come now, come now… certainly, Crouch may have believed himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who's orders - but to take the word of a lunatic like that, Dumbledore…"**

**"****When Cristal touched the Triwizard Cup tonight, she was transported straight to Voldemort," said Dumbledore steadily. "She witnessed Lord Voldemort's rebirth. I will explain it all to you if you will step up to my office."**

**Dumbledore glanced around at Cris and saw that she was awake, but shook his head and said, "I am afraid I cannot permit you to question Cristal tonight."**

**Fudge's curious smile lingered. He too glanced at Cris, then looked back at Dumbledore, and said, "You are - er - prepared to take Cristal's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"**

"You were listening to that Skeeter woman, weren't you?" Lily asked with a sever glare towards the Minister.

"I admit, I was reading her, I thought she was actually interviewing people, now I know she wasn't really." Fudge said.

**There was a moment's silence, which was broken by Sirius growling. His hackles were raised, and he was baring his teeth at Fudge.**

"I should have bit him." Sirius grumbled under his breath.

**"****Certainly, I believe Cristal," said Dumbledore. His eyes were blazing now. "I heard Crouch's confession, and I heard Cristal's account of what happened after she touched the Triwizard Cup; the two stories make sense, they explain everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."**

**Fudge still had that strange smile on his face. Once again, he glanced at Cris before answering.**

**"****You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a lunatic murderer, and a girl who… well…"**

"Mum, you're really not going to like this part." Cris said. Lily looked at her then a Fudge and nodded who were starting to pale, he should have believed Dumbledore's story but he didn't want to believe it.

**Fudge shot Cris another look, and Cris suddenly understood.**

**"****You've been reading Rita Skeeter, Mr. Fudge," she said quietly.**

**Ron, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, and Bill all jumped. None of them had realized that Cris was awake.**

**Fudge reddened slightly, but a defiant and obstinate look came over his face.**

**"****And if I have?" he said, looking at Dumbledore. "If I have discovered that you've been keeping certain facts about the girl very quiet? A Parselmouth, eh? And having funny turns all over the place -" **

"That ability came from Voldemort, I never wanted it." Cris said.

"How did that happen?" Fudge asked.

"The night he attacked The Potters and tried to kill her when it backfired it transferred some of his abilities into her." Dumbledore said.

"Oh," Fudge said looking ashamed; it wasn't the girl's fault for having a madman after her.

**"****I assume that you are referring to the pains Cristal has been experiencing in her scar?" said Dumbledore coolly.**

**"****You admit that he has been having these pains, then?" said Fudge quickly. "Headaches? Nightmares? Possibly - hallucinations?"**

**"****Listen to me, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, taking a step toward Fudge, and once again, he seemed to radiate that indefinable sense of power that Cris had felt after Dumbledore had Stunned young Crouch. "Cristal is as sane as you or I. **

"Well I don't know about that." Cris said with a smile. The group chuckled at that.

**That scar upon her forehead has not addled her brains. I believe it hurts her when Lord Voldemort is close by, or feeling particularly murderous."**

**Fudge had taken half a step back from Dumbledore, but he looked no less stubborn.**

**"****You'll forgive me, Dumbledore, but I've never heard of a curse scar acting as an alarm bell before…"**

"But then again, nobody has survived the Killing Curse before." Charlie said. Fudge looked down, he really was thinking of that.

**"****Look, I saw Voldemort come back!" Cris shouted. She tried to get out of bed again, but Mrs. Weasley forced her back. "I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy -"**

**Snape made a sudden movement, but as Cris looked at him, Snape's eyes flew back to Fudge.**

**"****Malfoy was cleared!" said Fudge, visibly affronted. "A very old family - donations to excellent causes -"**

"Yeah right, I can tell you right now Minister, I've seen my father's mark." Draco said. Fudge went pale and nodded.

**"****Macnair!" Cris continued.**

**"****Also cleared! Now working for the Ministry!"**

**"****Avery - Nott - Crabbe - Goyle -"**

**"****You are merely repeating the names of those who were acquitted of being Death Eaters thirteen years ago!" said Fudge angrily. **

"That doesn't mean they weren't Death Eaters, they probably just paid people off to let them go." Charlie said.

"I know that is what father did." Draco said.

**"You could have found those names in old reports of the trials! For heavens sake, Dumbledore - the girl was full of some crackpot story at the end of last year too - her tales are getting taller, and you're still swallowing them - the girl can talk to snakes. Dumbledore and you still think she's trustworthy?"**

"I'm so sorry Miss Potter," Fudge said. Cris looked at him curiously but wasn't sure if she should forgive him or not.

**"****I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, now matching her anger, his face purpling. "It seems to me that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for these last thirteen years!"**

"But that doesn't mean that he wouldn't rise again, we didn't find his body when disappeared, it is entirely possible for him to have come back like he has." Robin said. Fudge blushed drastically he should have thought it would have been possible but didn't want to believe it.

**Cris couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had always thought of Fudge as a kindly figure, a little blustering, a little pompous, but essentially good-natured. **

"He doesn't deserve it." Sirius growled glaring at the minister.

"Easy Paddy, it'll be alright." Robin said.

**But now a short, angry wizard stood before her, refusing, point-blank, to accept the prospect of disruption in his comfortable and ordered world - to believe that Voldemort could have risen.**

**"****Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated. "If you accept that fact straightaway Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation. The first and most essential step is to remove Azkaban from the control of the dementors -"**

"No kidding," Cris said remembering the attack this last summer.

**"****Preposterous!" shouted Fudge again. "Remove the dementors? I'd be kicked out of office for suggesting it! Half of us only feel safe in our beds at night because we know the dementors are standing guard at Azkaban!"**

**"****The rest of us sleep less soundly in our beds, Cornelius, knowing that you have put Lord Voldemort's most dangerous supporters in the care of creatures who will join him the instant he asks them!" said Dumbledore. **

**"****They will not remain loyal to you, Fudge! Voldemort can offer them much more scope for their powers and their pleasures than you can! With the dementors behind him, and his old supporters returned to him, you will be hard-pressed to stop him regaining the sort of power he had thirteen years ago!"**

**Fudge was opening and closing his mouth as though no words could express his outrage.**

**"****The second step you must take - and at once," Dumbledore pressed on, "is to send envoys to the giants."**

**"****Envoys to the giants?" Fudge shrieked, finding his tongue again. "What madness is this?"**

**"****Extend them the hand of friendship, now, before it is too late," said Dumbledore, "or Voldemort will persuade them, as he did before, that he alone among wizards will give them their rights and their freedom!"**

"Which is a lie." Remus said.

"The last time he promised them that they just exiled for it." Robin said.

**"****You - you cannot be serious!" Fudge gasped, shaking his head and retreating further from Dumbledore. "If the magical community got wind that I had approached the giants - people hate them, Dumbledore - end of my career -"**

"Sure, your career is more important than innocent lives." Lily spat.

"That is part of the reason we came back. There were a lot of needless deaths." Keiran said. Fudge looked at the oldest time travelers and paled, those deaths would be on him for not acting soon enough.

**"****You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your Dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now- take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild!"**

"And the latter is what we were told." Scarlett said. Sirius laughed at that and Fudge paled.

**"****Insane," whispered Fudge, still backing away. "Mad…"**

**And then there was silence. Madam Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Cris' bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over Cris, her hand on her shoulder to prevent her from rising. Bill, Ron, and Hermione were staring at Fudge.**

**"****If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."**

**Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing upon him with a wand.**

"That would have been funny." Ron said.

"Yeah," Bill said with a smile.

**"****Now, see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of respect for you. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me -"**

**"****The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."**

**It seemed Fudge could think of no answer to this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment and spun his bowler hat in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of a plea in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be…"**

"It's that kind of thinking that can get you into a lot of trouble." Lily said.

"It was that kind of thinking that caused the death of a lot of people." Teddy said. The group paled, a lot of people did die in the first and apparently in the second war.

**Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.**

"Of course he did, the Dark Mark would be there in all its glory." Charlie said.

**"****There," said Snape harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year. Karkaroff s too. Why do you think Karkaroff fled tonight? We both felt the Mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."**

"Well, at least there is one less to worry about." Mad-Eye growled.

"At there's that." Tonks said.

**Fudge stepped back from Snape too. He was shaking his head. He did not seem to have taken in a word Snape had said. He stared, apparently repelled by the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the Ministry."**

"Here comes the toad." Ginny grumbled under her breath. Cris looked down to the back of her hand where the words 'I Must Not Tell Lies' were etched into her skin. Cris smiled wickedly at the prospect of Umbridge getting what was coming to her.

**He had almost reached the door when he paused. He turned around, strode back down the dormitory, and stopped at Cris' bed.**

**"****Your winnings," he said shortly, taking a large bag of gold out of his pocket and dropping it onto Cris' bedside table. "One thousand Galleons. There should have been a presentation ceremony, but under the circumstances…"**

"You should have admitted the truth; it would have saved a lot of time." Tonks said.

**He crammed his bowler hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group around Cris' bed.**

**"****There is work to be done," he said. "Molly… am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"**

"What?" the past group asked.

"It's a group that fights against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It's called the Order of the Phoenix." Remus said.

"We were about of it in the first war, and are apart in the second go around." Sirius said. The past time travelers nodded and Gwen continued reading.

**"****Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white to the lips, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is like. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."**

"I happen to like my job." Mr. Weasley said.

"We know dear," Mrs. Weasley said kissing his cheek.

**"****Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."**

**"****I'll go to Dad," said Bill, standing up. "I'll go now." **

"How many of your kids are in the Order?" Lily asked.

"More than I would like." Mrs. Weasley said. She knew from the future kids that not everyone comes through this alive but she was determined to change it.

**"****Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry -"**

**"****Leave it to me," said Bill.**

**He clapped a hand on Cris' shoulder, kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled on his cloak, and strode quickly from the room.**

**"****Minerva," said Dumbledore, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also - if she will consent to come – Madame Maxime."**

"Ah, since they are both half-giants send them to try and get them on our side." Lily said.

**Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word.**

**"****Poppy," Dumbledore said to Madam Pomfrey, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."**

**"****Very - very well," said Madam Pomfrey, looking startled, and she too left.**

**Dumbledore made sure that the door was closed, and that Madam Pomfrey's footsteps had died away, before he spoke again.**

**"****And now," he said, "it is time for two of our number to recognize each other for what they are. Sirius… if you could resume your usual form."**

**The great black dog looked up at Dumbledore, then, in an instant, turned back into a man.**

**Mrs. Weasley screamed and leapt back from the bed.**

"Sorry about that, I now know you wouldn't ever betray James and Lily." Mrs. Weasley said.

"It's alright Molly, I understand." Sirius said.

**"****Sirius Black!" she shrieked, pointing at him.**

**"****Mum, shut up!" Ron yelled. "It's okay!"**

**Snape had not yelled or jumped backward, but the look on his face was one of mingled fury and horror.**

**"****Him!" he snarled, staring at Sirius, whose face showed equal dislike. "What is he doing here?"**

**"****He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."**

"That'll be a miracle," Lily said.

**Cris thought Dumbledore was asking for a near miracle. Sirius and Snape were eyeing each other with the utmost loathing.**

"You two really need to grow up." Robin said.

"Not likely." Sirius said. Moony and Prongs laughed.

"It's nice to know that some things never change." Moony said with a laugh.

"Oi!"

**"****I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore, with a bite of impatience in his voice, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any us."**

**Very slowly - but still glaring at each other as though each wished the other nothing but ill - Sirius and Snape moved toward each other and shook hands. They let go extremely quickly.**

"Well I guess that's something." Robin said.

"The day when they actually get along is the day that the world ends." Lily said.

"That'll be one hell of a day." Moony said.

**"****That will do to be going on with," said Dumbledore, stepping between them once more. "Now I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Sirius, I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Robin Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher - the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."**

"Well at least you're getting it together quickly." Prongs said.

"Speed is the key." Dumbledore said.

**"****But -" said Cris.**

**She wanted Sirius to stay. She did not want to have to say goodbye again so quickly.**

**"****You'll see me very soon. Cris," said Sirius, turning to her. "I promise you. But I must do what I can, you understand, don't you?"**

**"****Yeah," said Cris. "Yeah… of course I do."**

**Sirius grasped her hand briefly, kissed her head, nodded to Dumbledore, transformed again into the black dog, and ran the length of the room to the door, whose handle he turned with a paw. Then he was gone.**

**"****Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready… if you are prepared…"**

**"****I am," said Snape.**

**He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.**

**"****Then good luck," said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.**

"I wish Sirius would have stayed though, after something like that she would have needed him." Lily said.

"I understand Lily, but at least I was there for her." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Thank you," Lily said gratefully.

**It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.**

**"****I must go downstairs," he said finally. "I must see the Diggory's. Cris - take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."**

**Cris slumped back against her pillows as Dumbledore disappeared. Hermione, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley were all looking at her. None of them spoke for a very long time.**

**"****You've got to take the rest of your potion Cris," Mrs. Weasley said at last. Her hand nudged the sack of gold on his bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while… think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!"**

"What did you end up doing with it? You never told us." Hermione asked.

"You'll find out when we are on the train." Cris said. She shared a smile with Fred and George who smiled back at her.

**"****I don't want that gold," said Cris in an expressionless voice. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."**

**The thing against which she had been fighting on and off ever since she had come out of the maze was threatening to overpower her. She could feel a burning, prickling feeling in the inner corners of her eyes. She blinked and stared up at the ceiling.**

**"****It wasn't your fault. Cris," Mrs. Weasley whispered.**

**"****I told him to take the cup with me," said Cris.**

"It's not your fault; it's just you being you." George said.

"Thanks," Cris said.

**Now the burning feeling was in her throat too. She wished Ron would look away. Mrs. Weasley set the potion down on the bedside cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Cris. She had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as though by a mother. **

"Lily hugged you like that every single day." Sirius said sadly.

"Of course I would." Lily said with a smile.

**The full weight of everything she had seen that night seemed to fall in upon her as Mrs. Weasley held her to her. Her mother's face, her father's voice, the sight of Cedric, dead on the ground all started spinning in her head until she could hardly bear it, until she was screwing up her face against the howl of misery fighting to get out of her.**

**There was a loud slamming noise, and Mrs. Weasley and Cris broke apart. Hermione was standing by the window. She was holding something tight in her hand.**

"What was that?" Remus asked.

"You'll see." Hermione said with a smile.

**"****Sorry," she whispered.**

**"****Your potion, Cris," said Mrs. Weasley quickly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.**

**Cris drank it in one gulp. The effect was instantaneous. Heavy, irresistible waves of dreamless sleep broke over her; she fell back onto her pillows and thought no more.**

"That's the chapter," Gwen said handing it to Viktor, "I think there is only one more chapter left."

"Let's get this over with." Cris said. Viktor nodded and started the last chapter.


	42. Chapter 37: The Beginning

"**Chapter 37: The Beginning," **Viktor said.

"But isn't this the end?" Fred asked.

"Yes, but I think it means the beginning of the second war." Lily said.

"Mum, he was joking," Cris said.

"I knew that," Lily mumbled.

**When she looked back, even a month later, Cris found she had only scattered memories of the next few days. **

"That's true," Cris said.

"That's what happens after something tragic like that happens." Gwen said.

**It was as though she had been through too much to take in any more. The recollections she did have were very painful. The worst, perhaps, was the meeting with the Diggory's that took place the following morning.**

**They did not blame her for what had happened; on the contrary, both thanked her for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.**

"Any parent would feel that way." Remus said.

**"****He suffered very little then," she said, when Cris had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos… he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."**

**When they got to their feet, she looked down at Cris and said, "You look after yourself, now."**

**Cris seized the sack of gold on the bedside table.**

**"****You take this," she muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's, he got there first, you take it -"**

"Oh sweetie, they'll never take it." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know," Cris said.

**But she backed away from her.**

**"****Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't… you keep it."**

**Cris returned to Gryffindor Tower the following evening. From what Hermione and Ron told her, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Cris alone, that nobody ask her questions or badger her to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, she noticed, were skirting her in the corridors, avoiding her eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as she passed. She guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous she was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. She found she didn't care very much. She liked it best when she was with Ron and Hermione and they were talking about other things, or else letting her sit in silence while they played chess. She felt as though all three of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts - **

"Well I guess since you aren't hearing anything then it should be too bad yet." Lily said.

**and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain. The only time they touched upon the subject was when Ron told Cris about a meeting Mrs. Weasley had had with Dumbledore before going home.**

**"****She went to ask him if you could come straight to us this summer," he said. "But he wants you to go back to the Dursley's, at least at first."**

"No, she'll be absolutely miserable there." Lily said.

"Well not too bad, I had Gwen." Cris said.

"Glad I was of some help." Gwen said with a smile.

**"****Why?" said Cris.**

**"****She said Dumbledore's got his reasons," said Ron, shaking his head darkly. "I suppose we've got to trust him, haven't we?"**

**The only person apart from Ron and Hermione that Cris felt able to talk to was Hagrid. As there was no longer a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, they had those lessons free. They used the one on Thursday afternoon to go down and visit Hagrid in his cabin. It was a bright and sunny day; Fang bounded out of the open door as they approached, barking and wagging his tail madly.**

**"****Who's that?" called Hagrid, coming to the door. "Cris!"**

**He strode out to meet them, pulled Cris into a one-armed hug, ruffled her hair, and said, "Good ter see yeh, mate. Good ter see yeh."**

**They saw two bucket-size cups and saucers on the wooden table in front of the fireplace when they entered Hagrid's cabin.**

"I think Hagrid just had a date." Padfoot said.

"I think so too." Prongs said with a laugh.

**"****Bin havin' a cuppa with Olympe," Hagrid said. "She's jus' left."**

**"****Who?" said Ron curiously.**

**"****Madame Maxime, o' course!" said Hagrid.**

**"****You two made up, have you?" said Ron.**

**"****Dunno what yeh're talkin' about," said Hagrid airily, fetching more cups from the dresser. When he had made tea and offered around a plate of doughy cookies, he leaned back in**** his ****chair and surveyed Cris closely through his beetle-black eyes.**

"He's just worried about you." Lily said.

"I know," Cris said.

**"You all righ'?" he said gruffly**

**"****Yeah," said Cris.**

**"****No, yeh're not," said Hagrid. "Course yeh're not. But yeh will be."**

"Only time can heal those wounds." Robin said.

"Even then they won't be fully healed." Remus said. Cris nodded and looked down so she will always feel this pain but it'll just be lessened over time.

**Cris said nothing.**

**"****Knew he was goin' ter come back," said Hagrid, and Cris, Ron, and Hermione looked up at him, shocked. "Known it fer years Cris. Knew he was out there, bidin' his time. It had ter happen. Well, now it has, an' we'll jus' have ter get on with it. We'll fight. Migh' be able ter stop him before he gets a good hold. That's Dumbledore's plan, anyway. Great man, Dumbledore. 'S long as we've got him, I'm not too worried."**

**Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows at the disbelieving expressions on their faces.**

**"****No good sittin' worryin' abou' it," he said. "What's comin' will come, an we'll meet it when it does. Dumbledore told me wha' you did. Cris."**

**Hagrid's chest swelled as he looked at Cris.**

**"****Yeh did as much as yer father would've done, an' I can' give yeh no higher praise than that."**

"When it comes to those situations your father is showing greatly but you mainly have your mothers caring personality." Remus said. Prongs and Lily nodded and Cris smiled greatly at the knowledge.

**Cris smiled back at him. It was the first time she'd smiled in days. "What's Dumbledore asked you to do, Hagrid?" she asked. "He sent Professor McGonagall to ask you and Madame Maxime to meet him - that night."**

**"****Got a little job fer me over the summer," said Hagrid. "Secret, though. I'm not s'pposed ter talk abou' it, no, not even ter you lot. **

"Then don't get him drunk." Sirius said.

"And don't flatter him." Remus added.

"Alright," the trio said.

**Olympe - Madame Maxime ter you - might be comin' with me. I think she will. Think I got her persuaded."**

**"****Is it to do with Voldemort?"**

**Hagrid flinched at the sound of the name.**

"Does he still do that in the future?" Cris asked.

"Sometimes, but we aren't around him enough." James said.

**"****Migh' be," he said evasively. "Now… who'd like ter come an' visit the las' skrewt with me? I was jokin' - jokin'!" he added hastily, seeing the looks on their faces.**

**It was with a heavy heart that Cris packed her trunk up in the dormitory on the night before her return to Privet Drive. She was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced. She had avoided being in the Great Hall when it was full ever since she had left the hospital wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to avoid the stares of her fellow students.**

**When she, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hall, they saw at once that the usual decorations were missing. The Great Hall was normally decorated with the winning House's colors for the Leaving Feast. Tonight, however, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table. Cris knew instantly that they were there as a mark of respect to Cedric.**

The room fell silent for a moment before Viktor continued to read.

**The real Mad-Eye Moody was at the staff table now, his wooden leg and his magical eye back in place. He was extremely twitchy, jumping every time someone spoke to him. **

"Now Mad-Eye is even more paranoid." Tonks said with a smile towards her mentor. Mad-Eye glared at her as Viktor continued reading.

**Cris couldn't blame him; Moody's fear of attack was bound to have been increased by his ten-month imprisonment in his own trunk. Professor Karkaroff's chair was empty. Cris wondered, as she sat down with the other Gryffindors, where Karkaroff was now, and whether Voldemort had caught up with him.**

"I hope so." Sirius growled.

"What did happen to him?" Remus asked.

"You know, I don't know, he may have been killed but I am not sure." Teddy said.

"Alright," Robin said.

**Madame Maxime was still there. She was sitting next to Hagrid. They were talking quietly together. Further along the table, sitting next to Professor McGonagall, was Snape. His eyes lingered on Cris for a moment as Cris looked at him. His expression was difficult to read. He looked as sour and unpleasant as ever. Cris continued to watch him, long after Snape had looked away.**

**What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledore's orders, the night that Voldemort had returned? And why… why… was Dumbledore so convinced that Snape was truly on their side? He had been their spy, Dumbledore had said so in the Pensieve. Snape had turned spy against Voldemort, "at great personal risk." Was that the job he had taken up again? Had he made contact with the Death Eaters, perhaps? Pretended that he had never really gone over to Dumbledore, that he had been, like Voldemort himself, biding his time?**

Snape looked at the girl in shock, she figured that out rather quickly. Cris looked sheepish when she looked at his shocked face.

"I'm sorry, I just had a lot of time to think things through and that seemed obvious especially after what I saw in the Pensieve." Cris said. Snape nodded but was still very astounded that she figured it out so quickly.

**Cris' musings were ended by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet.**

**"****The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."**

**He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.**

"Of course, they lost one of their own." Tonks said. Her hair turning black in sadness.

**"****There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."**

**They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."**

**Cris caught a glimpse of Cho through the crowd. There were tears pouring silently down her face. She looked down at the table as they all sat down again.**

**"****Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."**

"Good, they deserve the truth." Gwen said.

"And that is what they'll get." Lily said.

**Cris raised her head and stared at Dumbledore.**

**"****Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."**

**A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.**

**"****The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this.**

"Of course not, the Ministry doesn't want to cause a panic." Charlie said with a disgusted whisper.

**It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."**

**Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now… or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table Cris saw Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Cris felt a hot, sick swoop of anger in her stomach. She forced herself to look back at Dumbledore.**

**"****There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Cristal Potter."**

"Of course he'll mention you, you witnessed it all." Lily muttered under her breath.

**A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Cris' direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.**

**"****Cristal Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "She risked her own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. She showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor her."**

**Dumbledore turned gravely to Cris and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured her name, as they had murmured Cedric's, and drank to her. But through a gap in the standing figures Cris saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched. Dumbledore, who after all possessed no magical eye, did not see them.**

"Sorry, I felt too sick to do anything." Draco said.

"It's alright." Cris said.

"This is so weird." Ron said.

"I know," Cris, Draco and Hermione said.

**When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemort's return - such ties are more important than ever before."**

**Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrang's at the Slytherin table. Krum, Cris saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.**

**"****Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.**

**"****It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst.**

**"****Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."**

**Cris' trunk was packed; Hedwig was back in her cage on top of it. She, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years for the carriages that would take them back to Hogsmeade station. It was another beautiful summer's day. She supposed that Privet Drive would be hot and leafy, its flower beds a riot of color, when she arrived there that evening. The thought gave her no pleasure at all. Though the thought of seeing her best Muggle friend Gwen would be the only light there. **

"That's why we never moved." Gwen said. Cris smiled and went over to hug Gwen.

"Thanks G," Cris whispered. Gwen smiled and nodded and sat back down.

**"Cris****!"**

**She looked around. Fleur Delacour was hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. Beyond her, far across the grounds Cris could see Hagrid helping Madame Maxime to back two of the giant horses into their harness. The Beauxbatons carriage was about to take off.**

**"****We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur as she reached her, holding out her hand. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish."**

"I think you're doing a great job as it is." Lily said.

"I may 'ave 'ad uzzer reasons." Fleur said blushing at Bill. Lily just smiled at the two of them.

**"****It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice. Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled.**

"Do not worry 'Ermione, I like Bill." Fleur said.

"I know," Hermione said with a smile.

**"Good-bye, Cris," said Fleur, turning to go. "It 'az been a pleasure meeting you!"**

**Cris' spirits couldn't help but lift slightly as she watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight.**

**"****Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D' you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"**

**"****Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."**

"Now that isn't fair." Prongs said.

"It vas vhat it vas." Viktor said with a shrug.

**Krum had come to say good-bye to Hermione. "Could I have a vord?" he asked her.**

**"****Oh… yes… all right," said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following Krum through the crowd and out of sight.**

"And Ron wanted to slug Viktor right then and there." Cris said with a smile. Ron blushed fiercely at that and Hermione just smiled and shook her head and kissed him. Gwen turned to Viktor and quirked an eyebrow.

"Do not vorry; I still think you are very pretty." Viktor said so only she could hear it. Gwen blushed and nodded and let him continue the chapter.

**"****You'd better hurry up!" Ron called loudly after her. "The carriages will be here in a minute!"**

**He let Cris keep a watch for the carriages, however, and spent the next few minutes craning his neck over the crowd to try and see what Krum and Hermione might be up to. They returned quite soon. Ron stared at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive.**

**"****I liked Diggory," said Krum abruptly to Cris. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang - with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.**

"That doesn't make you who you are." Lily said.

"I know," Viktor said.

**"****Have you got a new headmaster yet?" said Cris.**

**Krum shrugged. He held out his hand as Fleur had done, shook Cris' hand, and then Ron's. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. Krum had already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"**

Viktor smiled at Ron, "Do you still have it?" Ron blushed and nodded and Cris snickered.

"He has it framed." Cris said with a smirk.

"You weren't supposed to say anything." Ron hissed. Cris just simply smiled at him.

**Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Krum, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.**

**The weather could not have been more different on the journey back to King's Cross than it had been on their way to Hogwarts the previous September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Cris, Ron, and Hermione had managed to get a compartment to themselves. Pigwidgeon was once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting continually; Hedwig was dozing, her head under her wing, and Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat like a large, furry ginger cushion. Cris, Ron, and Hermione talked more fully and freely than they had all week as the train sped them southward. Cris felt as though Dumbledore's speech at the Leaving Feast had unblocked her, somehow. It was less painful to discuss what had happened now. **

**They broke off their conversation about what action Dumbledore might be taking, even now, to stop Voldemort only when the lunch trolley arrived.**

**When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. Cris looked at it, unsure whether she really wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, seeing her looking at it, said calmly, "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."**

**"****He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Cris. "Not on a story like this."**

"But if she did would it get the story out." Lily said.

"True, but it'll probably say that Cris did it or some nonsense like that." Charlie said.

**"****Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."**

"Ooohhh, what do you know?" Tonks asked. Hermione just smiled at her.

**"****What are you talking about?" said Ron.**

**"****I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush.**

"Tell us!" the trouble makers cried out.

**Cris had the impression that Hermione had been dying to tell them this for days, but that she had restrained herself in light of everything else that had happened.**

"I did," Hermione said.

"Thanks," Cris said simply.

**"****How was she doing it?" said Cris at once.**

**"****How did you find out?" said Ron, staring at her.**

**"****Well, it was you, really, who gave me the idea Cris," she said.**

"The whole bugging thing?" Remus asked then he went wide eyed as he figured it out.

"She didn't?" Moony asked as he figured it out himself.

"She did," The trio said.

"Did what!" the group exclaimed.

"If you'll be patient it'll say in a minute." Hermione said. They huffed and told Viktor to continue.

**"****Did I?" said Cris, perplexed. "How?"**

**"****Bugging," said Hermione happily.**

**"****But you said they didn't work -" Ron said.**

"So you do listen every now and then." Hermione mused. Ron huffed but Hermione kissed his cheek.

**"****Oh not electronic bugs," said Hermione. "No, you see… Rita Skeeter" – Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph - "is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn -"**

**Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out other bag. "- into a beetle."**

"No way," Sirius said.

"Way," Hermione said.

"It's so simple that it's brilliant." Lily said.

**"You're kidding," said Ron. "You haven't… she's not…"**

**"****Oh yes she is," said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them.**

**Inside were a few twigs and leaves and one large, fat beetle.**

"So that's what you caught on the window sill." Bill said.

"Yep," Hermione said.

**"****That's never - you're kidding -" Ron whispered, lifting the jar to his eyes.**

**"****No, I'm not," said Hermione, beaming. "I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing. Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."**

**Cris looked and saw that she was quite right. She also remembered something.**

**"****There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!"**

**"****Exactly," said Hermione. "And Viktor pulled a beetle out of my hair after we'd had our conversation by the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt. She's been buzzing around for stories all year." **

"Literally." Charlie said with a chuckle.

**"****When we saw Malfoy under that tree…" said Ron slowly.**

**"****He was talking to her, in his hand," said Hermione. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible stuff about us and Hagrid." **

"Sorry," Draco said, "my father threatened me to do it." Draco flinched at the thought; he didn't want to know what he would have done to him if Draco didn't do as he asked.

"Don't worry Draco; your father will not get to you." Snape said. Draco nodded but didn't say anything else.

**Hermione took the glass jar back from Ron and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass.**

**"****I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."**

"Nice," Bill said with a smile.

**Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her schoolbag.**

**The door of the compartment slid open.**

**"****Very clever Granger," said Draco Malfoy.**

"Sorry," Draco said.

"Don't apologize; it's all in the past." Cris said.

**Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing, than Cris had ever seen them.**

**"****So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite girl again. Big deal."**

**His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.**

**"****Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all three of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"**

**"****Get out," said Cris.**

**She had not been this close to Malfoy since she had watched him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle during Dumbledore's speech about Cedric. She could feel a kind of ringing in her ears. Her hand gripped her wand under her robes.**

**"****You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "Too late now Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - Diggory was the f-"**

Everyone turned to glare at him and Draco wanted nothing more than to disappear right then and there.

"I've already forgiven him, let's let this go." Cris said. Before anyone could say anything else Viktor continued reading.

**It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Cris blinked and looked down at the floor.**

**Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. She, Ron, and Hermione were on their feet, all three of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.**

**"****Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.**

"Nice," Charlie said.

"So that's why I had a footprint on me." Draco said.

**"****Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?" **

"What does that do?" Gwen asked.

"It covers the intended target in boils." Bill said.

"Ouch." Gwen said.

**"****Me," said Cris.**

**"****Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."**

"So that's why we woke up in the corridor." Draco said.

"Well, we couldn't leave you there." George said.

"You would have woken up cranky." Fred said.

"That's probably true," Draco said.

**Ron, Cris, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle - each of whom looked distinctly the worse for the jumble of jinxes with which they had been hit - out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.**

**"****Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.**

"Only you." Bill said shaking his head.

"I don't know, they are good about keeping me distracted from what's on my mind." Cris said.

"That's our job," the twins said kissing her head.

**They were halfway through their fifth game when Cris decided to ask them.**

**"****You going to tell us, then?" she said to George. "Who you were blackmailing?"**

**"****Oh," said George darkly. "That."**

**"****It doesn't matter," said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."**

**"****We've given up," said George, shrugging.**

**But Cris, Ron, and Hermione kept on asking, and finally, Fred said, "All right, all right, if you really want to know… it was Ludo Bagman."**

"Why did you blackmail him for?" Charlie asked.

"You'll find out,"

"Dear brother,"

"If only you let,"

"Viktor continue,"

"Reading."

**"****Bagman?" said Cris sharply. "Are you saying he was involved in -"**

**"****Nah," said George gloomily. "Nothing like that. Stupid git. He wouldn't have the brains."**

**"****Well, what, then?" said Ron.**

**Fred hesitated, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"**

**"****Yeah," said Cris and Ron slowly.**

**"****Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."**

"Bloody hell, I don't even know what to call him." Bill said.

"He should have known better." Percy said.

**"****So?"**

**"****So," said Fred impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!"**

**"****But - it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" said Hermione.**

"I don't think so." Bill said.

**George laughed very bitterly.**

**"****Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."**

**"****In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."**

"He should have, you won it fair and square." Charlie said with a growl.

**"****So we asked for our money back," said George glowering.**

**"****He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.**

**"****Right in one," said Fred.**

**"****But that was all your savings!" said Ron.**

"Now that is just great." Sirius said.

"I think I know what Cris did with the gold." Robin said. Everyone but Cris and the twins grew curious but Remus got it.

"You didn't," Remus said wide eyed.

"Maybe," Cris said with a smirk.

**"****Tell me about it," said George. "'Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. And you know how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back?"**

**"****How?" said Cris.**

**"****He put a bet on you, mate," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."**

"But she did win." Lily said confused.

"Not really, she tied with Cedric, they will see it as a tie even though Cedric was killed." Bill said.

"Damn," Gwen said under her breath.

**"****So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" said Cris. "Well - I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"**

**"****Nope," said George, shaking his head. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it. He did run for it right after the third task."**

"He should steer clear of the bank for a while then." Bill said with a whistle.

"Yeah, the goblins won't like him until they get paid back." Remus said. The future kids smirked knowing what the trio did.

"What's that look for?" Cris asked.

"Later mum," James said.

**George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again.**

**The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; Cris wished it could have gone on all summer, in fact, and that she would never arrive at King's Cross… but as she had learned the hard way that year, time will not slow down when something unpleasant lies ahead, and all too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling in at platform nine and three-quarters. The usual confusion and noise filled the corridors as the students began to disembark. Ron and Hermione struggled out past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, carrying their trunks. Cris, however, stayed put.**

**"****Fred - George - wait a moment."**

**The twins turned. Cris pulled open her trunk and drew out her Triwizard winnings.**

"You didn't." Bill said with a shocked face.

"I did." Cris said.

"So that's where the gold came from." Mr. Weasley said. Mrs. Weasley was still too shocked for words.

**"****Take it," she said, and she thrust the sack into George's hands.**

**"****What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted.**

**"****Take it," Cris repeated firmly. "I don't want it."**

**"****You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Cris.**

**"****No, I'm not," said Cris. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."**

"Cris!" Mrs. Weasley shouted.

"Like I said before I didn't need and they did, so I gave it to them." Cris said.

"Grandma, the shop is going very strong." James said with a smile.

"It's a very popular shop." Lily J said.

**"****She is mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice.**

**"****Listen," said Cris firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."**

**"****Cris," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."**

**"****Yeah," said Cris, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is."**

"That's my girl." Prongs said proudly. Cris smiled at her dad and he smiled back, the same smile that they shared.

**The twins stared at her.**

**"****Just don't tell your mum where you got it… although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…"**

**"****Cris," Fred began, but Cris pulled out her wand.**

**"****Look," she said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you." **

"So that's why I got new ones. Thanks mate." Ron said.

"Anytime Ron." Cris said with a smile.

**She left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.**

"My father wasn't too happy about that but I could swear my mother was trying not to laugh." Draco said.

"So Cissa still has her sense of humor even after being married to that git." Sirius said.

**Uncle Vernon was waiting beyond the barrier. Mrs. Weasley was close by him. She hugged Cris very tightly when she saw her and whispered in her ear, "I think Dumbledore will let you come to us later in the summer. Keep in touch, Cris."**

**"****See you. Cris," said Ron, hugging her as he usually did.**

**"'****Bye, Cris!" said Hermione, hugging her like always.**

**"****Cris - thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side.**

**Cris winked at them, turned to Uncle Vernon, and followed him silently from the station. There was no point worrying yet, she told herself, as she got into the back of the Dursley's car.**

**As Hagrid had said, what would come, would come… and she would have to meet it when it did.**

"That's the book." Viktor said closing it.

"I believe it's time we all go to bed before we start the next book." Mrs. Weasley nodded. Everyone agreed and Cris and the twins stayed back.

"Can you meet me again tonight?" she asked them. They nodded immediately; they thought she would ask them after this book was over with.

"We'll be there Bambi," they said together.


End file.
